Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa07974; 27 May 91 23:53 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa12684; 27 May 91 22:06 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa25293; 27 May 91 20:59 CDT Date: Mon, 27 May 91 20:45:05 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #401 BCC: Message-ID: <9105272045.ab21758@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Mon, 27 May 91 20:44:56 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 401 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Technology Versus Money [Donald E. Kimberlin] Access Charge Goes UP [John Higdon] Modification of Ringback Tone by Subscriber Apparatus [Larry Lippman] DTMF Decoder Chip Wanted [Steve Fenwick] Looking For Inexpensive Outside Wire [Steve Gaarder] Free Teletypes [Stanfield L. Smith] Telecom Export Controls [Marc Rotenberg] Re: Creative Loafing Editorial on CLASS Features [Kevin P. Kleinfelter] Re: 52x Area Codes [Carl Moore] Verbosity Correlation? [William M. Hawkins] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 26 May 91 22:13 GMT From: "Donald E. Kimberlin" <0004133373@mcimail.com> Subject: Technology Versus Money These pages often contain examples of technology limited, thwarted or prostituted to the greed of the "money people." The technology of telecommunications has suffered perhaps more than most, for beyond being a benefactor of human relations at greater distances than most, it is usually benign to the public safety. Airplanes can crash; ships can sink. Electrical power, gas, water and sewers run amok can kill people in their own way. But the relatively harmless technology, telecomunications, can be stretched and milked to its staggering and failing point, with little risk of arousing pulic ire from visible damage when it fails. The result is that when its capital suppliers decide to stress telecomm to failure, there's far less penalty than more generally "dangerous" technologies. There are many stories to illustrate this point, but I'd like to step over to the side of the stream, to bring you a quotation from a book that tells of how the world generally viewed two its the major characters of the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte, a killer emperor who pleased people because his killing brought them money anyway, and Michael Faraday, from whose discoveries we all benefit daily in untold ways ... but have forgotten. The words are so well told in the book, "A History of Electrical Engineering," by Percy Dunsheath, a retired President of the (British) Institution of Electrical Engineers and the International Electrotechnical Commission, that it's best quoted almost verbatim (with but a few insertions for clarity where Dunsheath's text refers to previous chapters of his book, indicated by parentheses): "Within a few weeks of the young bookbinder's apprentice, Faraday, making (his) historical notes of (Sir Humphrey) Davy's lecture at the Royal Institution in the spring of 1812, Napoleoon collected the Grand Army, a mighty host of soldiers from France and many other countries, armed and provisioned for a massive onslaught on Russia. As the defenders retired they laid waste the country before the advancing horde but Napoleon pressed on. At Borodino, where 100,000 dead were left on the battlefield, the last major obstacle was overcome and by the end of the summer Napoleon was in Moscow. This, however, proved to be a trap. Notwithstanding all his blandishments he failed to secure the co-operation of the Muscovites and, with the winter approaching only retreat was possible. Then followed one of the most tragic marches in history. Without food or shelter, the soldiers killed and ate their horses and died as they slept, covered by snow. Weapons and booty were abandoned and in the middle of December less than 20,000 ragged emaciated stragglers returned, all that remained of the 600,000 who had set out as a disciplined army six months before. During this same period Farady had bound up his notes of the four lectures and submitted them to Davy with a request to be found a post as an assistnat at the Royal Institution. As the stragglers from Moscow were re-entering France, Farady received a letter from Davy making an appointment which led to (Faraday's) long association with the Royal Institution during which he made so many fundamental contributions to electrical engineering. Napoleon and Faraday! What an interesting comparison and what an indictment of man's ingratitude! Napoleon, the creator of misery and death for hundreds of thousands, rests in solemn grandeur in Les Envalides (a huge marble rotunda in Paris, where Napoleon's coffin lies surrounded by the lesser heroes of France); Faraday, the great benefactor who, as founder of electrical engineering, did so much for human progress, lies in a modest grave at Highgate cemetery known to few." Dunsheath's anecdote here shows that the larger world has often and always accorded honors to the manipulator beyond those to the benefactor. Telecommunications (a true descendant of Faraday) is no exception. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 May 91 20:40 PDT From: John Higdon Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Access Charge Goes UP Remember the famous "access charge" that a great many people believe has something to do with access? "On April 2, 1991, Pacific Bell filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for an increase in the "Network Access for Interstate Calling" charge that appears on your business bill. At the same time, we requested an increase in certain rates for special access services. "If rates are approved, they will go into effect July 1, 1991. "'Network Access for Interstate Calling' Charge "The 'Network Access for Interstate Calling' charge enables us to recover the cost Pacific Bell incurs in completing interstate calls. For the following customers who have more than one line, we have proposed an increase of about three percent, from $4.02 to $4.14 a month per line, for this access charge: *Multi-Line Business *Customer-Owned Pay Telephone (COPT) *Semi-Public Coin Telephones *Centrex "In the same filing we also requested an increase of about 28 percent in installation rates, from $346.50 to $445.00, for voice grade special access services." Would it not be a dream come true to have a business in which you could simply pull money out of your customers on a whim? Costs of completing interstate calls? Obviously, Pac*Bell figures that its customers were born yesterday. By the way, if you are a 200 line Centrex customer, the "access" increase amounts to a not-so-insignificant $24.00 per month. If you have a 200 line PBX with 30 trunks, the increase is only $3.60 per month. Centrex customers get screwed again. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ Subject: Modification of Ringback Tone by Subscriber Apparatus Date: 27 May 91 00:33:46 EDT (Mon) From: Larry Lippman In article YSAR1111@vm1.yorku.ca (Rick Broadhead) writes: > I had a similar experience just a few days ago. I dialed a number in > my own area code (416), exchange 392, and was quite surprised to hear > a double ring. This is the first time I have ever heard a double > ring on the calling end. Is it possible that you encountered a "line extender" for FAX and/or modem use, which *immediately* trips the central office ringing and supplies its own ringing signal? Under these circumstances, you may never get a chance to hear the CO ringback tone, with the resultant ringback tone being solely the product of the subscriber's line extender. > [Moderator's Note: I don't know if you meant it the way it came out, > but the telephone instrument has *nothing* to do with the ring you > hear as the caller. What you heard must have been some kind of fluke; > some temporary switch problem. PAT] The above explanation about a line extender notwitstanding, it *is* possible to hear a ringback tone modification cased by the subscriber instrument. In electromechanical CO's, such as SxS, XY and some No. 1 XBAR (if any is still left), ringback tone is usually supplied by capacitive coupling between the called subscriber line while it is being rung and the calling party side of the connector or intraoffice trunk. Some older telephones having electronic ringers may create audible signals on the telephone line due to the design of the ringer oscillator circuit. While such audible signals cannot modify the cadence of the ringback signal, they can provide a decided modification to its sound as heard by the calling party. I first noticed the above many years ago in an Ericophone (remember those?) having a electronic tone ringer. Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp. "Have you hugged your cat today?" VOICE: 716/688-1231 {boulder, rutgers, watmath}!ub!kitty!larry FAX: 716/741-9635 [note: ub=acsu.buffalo.edu] uunet!/ \aerion!larry ------------------------------ From: steve@pro-hindugods.cts.com (Steve Fenwick) Subject: DTMF Decoder Chip Wanted Date: 26 May 91 20:46:49 GMT Does anyone know where to buy an inexpensive DTMF decoder chip? Preferable with easy interfacing capabilities. I want to build one of those turn-on-anything-from-anywhere gizmos. Thanks.... Steve CoSysop: pro-hindugods ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 May 91 02:17:36 EDT From: gaarder@anarres.ithaca.ny.us Subject: Looking For Inexpensive Outside Wire A friend and I are planning to run some cable from my house to his, a distance of about 1000 feet, and are looking for advice on where to find suitable wire at minimum cost. The plan is to go underground right near the houses, and overhead through the trees in the intervening woods. We need at least two pairs carrying RS-422 data, and an extra pair or two for some sort of voice link would be very nice. I have scrounged some underground phone cable and some drop wire, but not enough yet. One possible source of cheap wire is military surplus WD-1 field telephone wire. I've been told that it is steel wire, or possibly a combination of copper and steel. Does anyone know which, and what kind of resistance per unit length the stuff has? Also, any gotchas about using wire intended for underground use overhead? Any other ideas? Thanks, Steve Gaarder gaarder@theory.tc.cornell.edu gaarder@anarres.ithaca.ny.us [Moderator's Note: For only a thousand feet, why not go underground for the whole trip? It will be less conspicuous to vandals and others, and avoid the problem of trees getting cut down and winter ice storms pulling the wire down, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon 27 May 91 18:29:41 From: "Stanfield L. Smith " Subject: Free Teletypes ATTENTION Telephone equipment collectors/aficionados, HAM's, TDY support people and those involved with junior telephone groups. In a past life, I bought, sold and refurbished all types of teletype equipment. As a result I have a collection of equipment and spare parts that I am willing to donate to any person/group that can make use of them. The following is by no means a complete listing: Model 15 teletypes - Newswire vintage, 5 level baudot, gears for any standard speed. Approximately 25 units with covers, very few tables. Model 19 teletypes - Same as the 15, but on a larger table with a TD on the side and tape punch on the keyboard. Model 28RT - This unit is about 5 ft tall and the girth of a household icebox. It contains two complete and independent sets of automaticq tape repeaters. These units were used for message store and forward. Model 32ASR - This is a 5 level baudot machine capable of 75 words per minute. Looks like a Model 33 but has a 3 row keyboard. Model 33ASR and KSR - 110 baud ASCII machines. Model 35ASR and KSR - 110-150 baud ASCII machines. Intended for heavy duty continuous use. Have extra typing units for sprocket feed paper. Miscellaneous - Support supplies, gears, motors - everything needed for ongoing support of teletypes. If you are interested in any or all of this, or know someone who is, please contact me. Stanfield L. Smith stan@seadog.cns.com 516-737-2238 Lake Ronkonkoma, LI, NY (50 miles east of NYC, near Islip Airport) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 May 91 12:58:30 -0400 From: mrotenberg@cdp.uucp Subject: Telecom Export Controls The {New York Times} reported on Saturday that the Committee for Multilateral Export Controls ("Cocom") has decided to ease hi-tech export control restrictions. According to Allan Wendt, the State Department's senior representative for strategic technology policy, "The new list will provide stronger controls on truly strategic items while freeing from control those items that are are needed to modernize the economies of the proscribed countries that are no longer considered militarily critical." ("US and Allies Move to Ease Cold War Limits on Exports," {New York Times}, May 25, 1991, at A1.) The Times story does not indicate whether there were changes in the restrictions on the export of encryption technology, such as DES. According to the Times, "under the new rules agreed to late Thursday in Paris after a year of often tense talks, restrictions will be lifted on the export of almost all personal computers. Controls will remain on items like night-vision systems and supercomputers that are considered essential to maintain the Wests' superiority in military technology over the Soviet Union. American computer and telecom- munications equipment makers said that while they were generally pleased with the liberalization, they felt that the changes did not go far enough in two area, computers and telecommunications equipment. [The revised list] is expected to result in a 70 percent drop in the number of computer-export applications submitted to the commerce department. [PCs up to 486 will be decontrolled, but RISC- based machines will remain on the list]. The ability of US telecommunications equipment makers to sell more advanced fiber-optic telephone equipment to the Soviets will also be restricted under the new rules. The source for most of these concerns [upgrading Soviet telecommunications] in the United States was the intelligence community, particularly the National Security Agency. 'No one is trying to keep the Soviet Union in the Stone Age,' Mr. Wendt said. 'What the Soviet Union needs is good old-fashioned telephones.' Cocom officials vowed to strengthen export control procedures on the smaller number of items that will be restricted." Marc Rotenberg CPSR Washington Office ------------------------------ From: "Kevin P. Kleinfelter" Subject: Re: Creative Loafing Editorial on CLASS Features Date: 27 May 91 19:19:57 GMT Organization: Dun and Bradstreet Software, Inc., Atlanta, GA > The right to privacy? That's one option the phone company isn't > offering at _any_ price. Sure they do ... and at a bargain price! No phone == $0. If privacy is the essential element one desires, the mere ringing of the phone is an intrusion. Unless one has a severe medical problem, the phone is NONESSENTIAL, and is an intrusion by its very nature. No, this is not the same as saying that you don't have to take a drug test if you don't want the job. You DO need employment to live within the civilized community. Kevin Kleinfelter @ DBS, Inc (404) 239-2347 ...gatech!nanoVX!msa3b!kevin ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 May 91 16:34:48 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: 52x Area Codes 52x "area code" did appear on 1982 tape from AT&T. They definitely were not dialable that way then. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 May 91 23:25:09 CDT From: "William M. Hawkins" Subject: Verbosity Correlation? It seems to me, as I thumb through the Digest, that submissions by folks talking about Cellular Phones are mostly much longer than others. Is this because a limited number of people submit Cellular articles, and many of them (but not a valid cross section of humanity) are verbose? Or is it because people who are so wrapped up in communication that they carry a portable phone are also naturally verbose? ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #401 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa10608; 28 May 91 0:56 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa08402; 27 May 91 23:12 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab12684; 27 May 91 22:06 CDT Date: Mon, 27 May 91 21:27:20 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #402 BCC: Message-ID: <9105272127.ab24510@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Mon, 27 May 91 21:26:36 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 402 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Calling US 800-Numbers From New Zealand [Claus Tondering] Re: International Calling to 800 Numbers [Philip Gladstone] Re: ONA Offers New Horizons for Telesleaze [John Higdon] Re: I Was Caught In a Big Halon Discharge [Macy Hallock] Re: 9's in Telephone Numbers [Tim Irvin] Re: Bell Atlantic's Guardian Plan [Mike Berger] Re: DAA Help Needed [Jon Sreekanth] Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [Steve Pershing] Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [Jon Sreekanth] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Claus Tondering Subject: Re: Calling US 800-Numbers From New Zealand Organization: Dansk Data Elektronik A/S Date: Mon, 27 May 1991 06:42:54 GMT cbmvax!.UUCP!robert@uunet.uu.net (Robert L. Oliver) writes: > Contact AT&T (1-800-CALL-ATT) and find out about getting a USA DIRECT > card. I bet you could use that to make 800 calls from abroad. Anyone > know for sure? > [Moderator's Nore: With USA Direct, I think you pay for a call to the > IOC, and it is then dialed out to the desired 800 number. PAT] I tried that a couple of years ago, but the USA Direct operator would not connect me to an 800 number. Claus Tondering Dansk Data Elektronik A/S, Herlev, Denmark E-mail: ct@dde.dk ------------------------------ From: philip@beeblebrox.dle.dg.com (Philip Gladstone) Subject: Re: International Calling to 800 Numbers Organization: Data General, Development Lab Europe Date: 27 May 91 17:57:59 > [Moderator's Note: I believe the way this is handled by AT&T in their > 'USA Direct' program is you pay for a call to the International > Operating Center in Pennsylvania, then an 800 call is dialed out from > a line there. PAT] Around a year ago, I had to help an American friend who had her credit cards stolen while visiting here. Happily she had a copy of her most recent bill -- this listed the 800 number to call to report a loss. No amount of calling AT&T via their direct dial number in the UK would persuade them to connect us to an 800 number. They tried to be helpful and called the 800 number on our behalf to try and find 'the real number'. Unfortunately, it was late at night on a weekend and the operators at the credit card company didn't seem too helpful -- the AT&T operator was unable to get a real phone number out of them. Eventually we started calling friends in the US and persuaded one of them to call the 800 number. By the end of this hassle, I'd have been happy to pay operator- assisted transatlantic charges to get through! Come on British Telecom, there is money to made here. Philip Gladstone Dev Lab Europe, Data General, Cambridge, UK [Moderator's Note: Well, what I have heard lately is that if you are willing to pay for a call to the IOC, they will put it through to that point then it'll be dialed back out from there to the destination. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 May 91 01:26 PDT From: John Higdon Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: ONA Offers New Horizons for Telesleaze Gordon Burditt writes: > This sounds like yet another scheme to jack up the rates for data > users. Many modems will abort the call if they detect voice on the > line. Ads will do wonders for call completion rates. Yes, indeed. Most sleazeTel LD companies use "software answer supervision" for determining when to start the clock on billing. The routines depend on voice detection to "guess" at supervision. If it hears any SIT, then the call is considered failed and no billing is done. On the other hand, if the asymetrical patterns of voice are detected, the call is assumed to be complete and charging begins. COCOTs also use this scheme. Currently, there is a major problem dealing with unavailable cellular phones. Most cellular providers do not use the SIT, but have a dry announcement stating that the called phone is not available. Any carrier not using hardware answer supervision will bill for the call. This would also occur for every call that had commercial matter between rings. And imagine this: you reach for your ringing phone after only one ring and you get a recording that says, "the person trying to reach you is still listening to an important announcement. Please hold until you are connected." John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 May 91 14:03 EDT From: Macy Hallock Subject: Re: I Was Caught In a Big Halon Discharge Organization: Hallock Engineering and Sales Medina, Ohio USA +1 216 722 3053 [ good discussion about Halon deleted ] >> I watched a test of a Halon fire supression system installed at Yale a >> number of years ago. The testers remained inside the room as the >> system was set off; they seemed quite unconcerned. > I suspect that the test you witnessed was performed with a dummy > substance in the tank rather than Halon. This is true. In a decent size computer room, a Halon 1301 dump can cost $10k-30k. For this reason, testing is done using another gas. The tests I particpated in (one of the companies I own does fire alarm work, and I hold a valid State of Ohio Fire Alarm Installer License) used CO2. I was told CO2 dispersed in a similar fashion as Halon and cost far, far less. All personnel were evacuated prior to the test. The only people remaining in the room had breathing gear on. (It looked like fire/mine type assisted breathing apparatus to me) The discharge itself was rather spectacular, and sure stirred up the air. A slight mist/fog could be seen. The air temperature dropped several degrees, according the the evironmental systems. Frost formed on the manifold and pipes above the tanks, and on the halon tanks themselves. The sound was impressive, too. I'm told the actual change in the air mixture in the room is rather rapid and when either halon or CO2 is used, should not be deadly. However, the possiblility of accidental asphyxiation is possbile, either by incomplete dispersal (the high discharge veolcity is intended to even mix/disperse the gas) or for physical reasons (poor health, etc>). Accordingly, the correct procedure is to evacuate without delay, and reenter only with assisted breathing apparatus until the room's atmosphere is returned to normal. Later, after I was off site, some idiot got to fooling around with the room's fire alarm system and dumped the real halon. The bill was around $20k at this site (a major insurance company), and the idiot tried to blame our fire alarm system. We had to demonstrate the system operated well within spec and also got written statements from several other people in the computer to resolve the issue. Sigh. I really didn't want to learn about Halon systems to the extent required by the situation. Note that the computer room involved was actually smaller than most major central office ESS equipment rooms are. I now notice that some of the local telcos and carriers are installing Halon systems. They are also breaking up their offices into smaller areas and using firestops and doors to compartmentalize their Halon systems and fire risks. Its about time. Macy M. Hallock, Jr. N8OBG 216-725-4764 Home macy@fmsystm.UUCP macy@NCoast.ORG Note: macy@ncoast.org is best reply path to me. uunet!aablue!fmsystm!macy [No disclaimer, but I have no real idea what I'm saying or why I'm telling you] ------------------------------ Reply-To: irvin@northstar.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: 9's in Telephone Numbers Date: Mon, 27 May 91 09:29:03 +22323328 From: irvin@northstar105.dartmouth.edu In TELECOM Digest V11 #393, John Higdon writes: > irvin@northstar.dartmouth.edu writes: > > What is really strange (off the subject -- sorry Pat), is that any of > > these numbers gets a recording (in fact any unused number in the area) > > that says, "The number you have reached X-X-X X-X-X-X is being checked > > for trouble, please try your call again later." > When ever you hear the "being checked for trouble" message, that > simply means that telco is forwarding the number to the referral > machine and that nothing has yet been programmed in to the machine > itself. That part I did understand, what I was complaining about is their choice of default messages. "being checked for trouble" implies that this is a valid number but that the line is temporarily out-of-order. A better message would be "this line is not in service", or the old standby "this line has been disconnected, or is no longer in service". Here there is no possibility of confusing this with a working line. Tim [Moderator's Note: We also have one here which says, 'the number you dialed, XXX-XXXX yet be connected. Please try your call again later.' The 'may' and 'not' are run together like one word. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mike Berger Subject: Re: Bell Atlantic's Guardian Plan Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana Date: Mon, 27 May 1991 14:48:48 GMT cml@cs.umd.edu (Christopher M Lott) writes: > I believe Mr. Collins is mistaken; the Guardian plan as I understand > it explicitly DOES cover all customer telephone equipment, and > includes a loaner phone while the offending instrument is in the shop. It only covers repairs on phones you rent from Bell Atlantic. However, you do get a loaner while yours is in the shop (limited time). > On a related note, I'll be moving into student housing run by the > University in July. I had to sign a statement acknowledging receipt > of a copy of the C&P Line Maint. policy (will check for time before ... > Is there anyone living in an apartment who has used this insurance? > Where was the problem (according to them)? What was the resolution? > Does anyone know who is responsible for maintaining the punchdown > blocks etc. that pertain to telephone service for apartment complexes? > Is it telco? If your toilet breaks, are you responsible for the plumbing bills? You should not be responsible for problems with building services. Whether the phone company is responsible or the landlord isn't your concern. YOU aren't responsible for it. > I sorta figure I should get the $.85 insurance because if anything at > all goes wrong, the morons in the housing office will be quick to > charge me, I'm certain. ``Hey, you were warned. You signed the > receipt.'' Mike Berger Department of Statistics, University of Illinois AT&TNET 217-244-6067 Internet berger@atropa.stat.uiuc.edu [Moderator's Note: Illinois Bell generally assumes responsibility up to the point the wire comes in your apartment *in older buildings with house pairs going back long before divestiture.* In newer buildings, they sometimes pass the house pairs off as the landlord's problem. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Jon Sreekanth Subject: Re: DAA Help Needed Date: Mon, 27 May 1991 16:37:41 GMT In article Paul Sutter writes: > 1) FCC Part 68 says the dc on-hook impedance should be 5 megohms. > EIA-470 says at least 25 megohms. Which should I follow? iI is much > easier for me to exceed 5 megohms than 25. The way it was explained to me, for a "DC REN" of 1.0, the DC on-hook impedance below 100V should be 25 Meg. Since a max of REN 5.0 is permitted, the minimum DC impedance is 5 Meg. I've seen the EIA spec, but it can't be mandatory, because I have a Rat Shack gadget which has detailed specs, and lists its resistance as 10M on-hook, 300 ohm off-hook. The only issue is whether you expect other parallel connected devices (extension phones, etc) sharing the line with your device, in which case you don't want to use up the REN 5.0 budget. > 2) Many DAA circuits I have seen include the following surge > protection: > (tip) ----/\/\/\/\/----+-------- | (varistor) | > (ring) ----/\/\/\/\/----+-------- > With 5 ohm resistors, how are the wattage ratings determined? I have > seen anything from 1 watt to quarter watt resistors used. likewise I > have seen variation in the varistor used. Since these are for surges, > how do you calculate the necessary ratings? The way I've done it is figure out the maximum "regular" voltage on the phone line (48V + 1.4*150 ... FCC ring B has a max of 150V). Varistors seem to have a broad range of breakdown voltage, not a crisp zener like voltage, so I've ended up using a 360V nominal varistor. The resistors should have enough wattage not to blow under the FCC simulated lightning strike (25A of 10*560 uS surge at 800V). I actually use a slow blow fuse in place of the resistors; that gives me UL1459. Regards, Jon Sreekanth Assabet Valley Microsystems Fax and PC products 346 Lincoln St #722, Marlboro, MA 01752 508-562-0722 jon_sree@world.std.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World From: Steve Pershing Date: Mon, 27 May 91 14:22:52 PDT Organization: Questor - Free Internet/Usenet*Vancouver*BC::+1 604 681 0670 john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: > If you really want your phones to ring with a cadence separate from the > one supplied by your central office, then you will have to invest in > some sort of phone system, be it a PBX, hybrid, or a key system. Not to belabour the point, but there are tone-ringer chips from many chip manufacturers which can be relatively easily configured to produced whatever ringing cadence one wants, given a bit of electronic knowledge. Chips from Motorola and Mitel come to mind. I think a simple circuit consisting of a CMOS 555-type timer powered by a bridge rectifier across the telephone line (and isolated by means of neon lamp) would do the job. The 555 could be used to trigger and/or power the Tone Ringer chip as I think it can supply around 20ma current (if memory serves me correctly). Steve Pershing, System Administrator The QUESTOR Project: FREE Usenet News/Internet Mail; Sci, Med, AIDS, more : Internet: sp@questor.wimsey.bc.ca : POST: 1027 Davie Street, Box 486 : Phones: Voice/FAX: +1 604 682 6659 : Vancouver, British Columbia : Data/BBS: +1 604 681 0670 : Canada V6E 4L2 : ------------------------------ From: Jon Sreekanth Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World Date: Mon, 27 May 1991 17:29:39 GMT In article YSAR1111@vm1.yorku.ca (Rick Broadhead) writes: > Are there any telephones on the market for a residential line that > produce a double ring? Or is such a feature restricted to PBX system > phones? > [Moderator's Note: I don't know if you meant it the way it came out, > but the telephone instrument has *nothing* to do with the ring you > hear as the caller. What you heard must have been some kind of fluke; > ome temporary switch problem. PAT] You may have reached a fax switch, or some similar hack. These units pick up the line on hearing a ring signal, and send out a "phantom ringback", waiting to sense a fax or modem carrier tone. A lot of them generate a pretty yucky ringback (= single stage filtered square wave). Since the ring at the called end and the telephone company ringback sent back to the caller are un-synchronized, and these boxes pick up the line very fast, it's possible that the only "ringback" the caller hears comes from terminal equipment, not telco ringback. Though it's surprising that they should generate a non-standard ringback, instead of the standard US ringback. At least one fax switch I know of (CCI, Colorado ?) has an EPROM upgrade to generate different countries' ringbacks. But to get back to the main thread: is it "mandatory" for all US exchanges to generate the familiar ringback ? Jon Sreekanth Assabet Valley Microsystems Fax and PC products 346 Lincoln St #722, Marlboro, MA 01752 508-562-0722 jon_sree@world.std.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #402 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa13308; 28 May 91 2:01 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa09829; 28 May 91 0:18 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab08402; 27 May 91 23:12 CDT Date: Mon, 27 May 91 22:51:56 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #403 BCC: Message-ID: <9105272251.ab21279@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Mon, 27 May 91 22:51:49 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 403 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Did Western Electric Also Make Sound Recordings? [Donald Kimberlin] Re: Did Western Electric Also Make Sound Recordings? [haynes@cats.ucsc.edu] Re: Why a Twist in Modular Cables? [Macy Hallock] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 27 May 91 18:05 GMT From: "Donald E. Kimberlin" <0004133373@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Did Western Electric Also Make Sound Recordings? Responding to the Moderator, writes: > I'm looking at ... (Radio Physics Course ... that tells about > talking movies ... The Vitaphone system developed by Bell Labs > used approx 15-inch diameter records turning at 33-1/3 rpm. Must > have been a gutsy way to make movies, since the sound was recorded > at the same time as the filming and you couldn't edit the record. > Obviously the reason for the large slow record is to make it last as > long as a reel of film. It sure was, and a gutsy way to show them, too. While the original Vitaphone-by-disk method was long gone by the time I came along to work in movie theatres as a teenager, the Vitaphone disk turntable was still there, mounted on the rear of the projector lamp bases. I was told the projectionist had to be a slip-cueing DJ, playing the record for the current reel in as close to lip sync as possible. Even though sound-on-film came along and killed disks in the projection booth, the Vitaphone name lived through several techniques. If you look carefully at the title screens of Warner Brothers Looney Tunes, you'll see the Vitaphone name listed there. Haynes continues: > While this format didn't last long in the movies it did carry over to > radio broadcasting. Up until the 1950's broadcast radio stations had > libraries of "transcriptions" on 15-inch 33-1/3 rpm disks. These > contained all kinds of stuff: music, sound effects, historical > speeches, etc. At WTSP in St. Petersburg, FL we did all those things, right up into the late 1950's. We had two major "transcription libraries," The World Transcription Service and the Standard Transcription Library. Both were 33-1/3 rpm recordings on "16-inch" disks, as the size was called. Western Electric's piece of this was evidenced on the Standard transcriptions, which were "vertical cut," that is, the needle action was vertical in the groove as opposed to lateral in consumer records. There were claims that "vertical cut" was higher-fidelity than lateral cut. To play them back, we had "transcription heads" on the turntables that could be switched to use either vertical-sensitive or lateral-sensitive pickup windings. (Yes, windings ... these were BIG, clunky, long playback arms that while very well-balanced, weighed a pound or so it seemed. To play a warped record, we'd set a line of lead type from the composing room on top of the playback head! Other stations had to use a 50 cent or dollar coin.) The standard transcriptions bore WECo's mark in the form of a patent license notice for use of the vertical technique. Haynes continues: > Also programs could be distributed in this way; > programs not considered important enough to rate real-time wire > network transmission. Some stations had recording equipment so they > could record important events broadcasts on disks. Absolutely. Among the things WTSP's library contained was all two thousand or so episodes of the "Lone Ranger." Every weekday evening at 7, I played the one scheduled on the log for that day. And, tape recording was not yet all that trusted yet, so we "delayed" many programs by cutting our own acetate disks off the network line, holding them hours or days, and playing our locally-made "e.t." when scheduled. Perhaps the wildest form of this was delaying Sunday baseball games until local blue laws permitted broadcasting a sporting event. There, we'd be recording the game in 15-minute segments, then playing the disks back in sequence an hour or two into the game. Few people know that WECo was heavily into broadcasting equipment. Bell Labs, of course, did the basic design, but had been into building a wide variety of radio equipment since very early days. The entry of Bell interests into radio broadcasting with WEAF at New York brought to radio, among other things, the "commercial announcement," as AT&T fully expected radio broadcasting to be a "message service" for sale, every bit as much as a letter, telegram, or telephone "message." In a set of relations so complex as to defy sorting out, AT&T and RCA both cooperated and competed in various forms of early radio. These included Bell's use of RCA transmitters at Rocky Point for the low-frequency New York-London SSB radio, numerous Bell Labs experiments at Deal Beach, NJ, and experimental station 3XN at Whippany, NJ. 3XN was reported in a 1928 book to use a Western Electric 7-A transmitter with a capacity of 200 kilowatts, operated at 50 kilowatts, equipped with Western Electric-made water-coooled power tubes. Another paragraph of the 1928 book said that WCAP in Washington, DC had been recently closed due to "complicated legal difficulties," but that it had been operated by the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company for three years. This was likely part of the action around that time in which AT&T withdrew from operating radio broadcasting outlets. WCAP's transmitter was said to have been designed by a 'Mr. Colpitts of the Western Electric Company." (Radio people certainly recognize the name Colpitts!) WBAP at Fort Worth was said to have a Western Electric transmitter, made with "two 250-watt oscillators and two modulators of the same power" (500 Watts of modulated oscillator? Egads!). In fact, well into the 1950s, WECo was a major player in the supply of radio broadcasting equipment for both the studio and the transmitter. At WTSP, our three antenna towers had been supplied by the Blaw-Knox Company, ordered through the Graybar Supply office in Tampa, FL, in order to support our WECo-made FM antenna that was fed from our WECo 405B FM transmitter, whioh was full of WECo tubes, from the smallest to the largest, a 10 kilowatt VHF amplifier. There were numerous WECo AM transmitters and WECo 25-Type studio audio consoles still in use by the late 1950s. While RCA, Collins, GE, Westinghouse, Federal and Gates all made broadcasting transmitters, it can fairly be said that Western Electric was the standard of excellence in that era of broadcasting -- top price, but admittedly most durable. It was an earlier consent decree agreed by AT&T that took WECo out of the broadcasting supply business. Up into the very late 1950's, WTSP was still buying odds and ends like WECo tubes and patch cords from the Graybar office at Tampa (and we could buy WECo telephones, too -- ostensibly for the purpose of "broadcasting order wire use). But WEco was at sea, also. An illustration from the 1928 book shows a "Western Electric 50-Watt combination Radiotelegraph and Telephone transmitter, Type T-1-A, enclosed in protecting cabinet on board a 75-foot patrol boat of the U.S. Coast Guard." It is matched with a Western Electric Type CGR-1-A superheterodyne receiver. The frequency range is described as 1700 to 2500 kilocycles. Also, a "new type of calling apparatus," by the name "CGR-9 Transmitter attachment" and "CGR-10 reciever attachment," made by Western Electric. Any worker with early mobile radios of the 1950s will recognize these mechanical keyers and selectors as the same technology used 25 years later by local Telcos for mobile phones. And WECo's early days seem to have included manufacture overseas, too. A 1928 description of the British radio behemoth, GFEX, operating on 16 kilohertz (egads!) with an output of 540 kilowatts that produced 600 amps of RF current in a 1-ohm antenna that was 2-3/4 miles long, was reported to use power tubes that were "all Western Electric water-cooled, made at New Southgate, England. The power unit consists of 18 valves, having each an output of 10 kilowatts ... " Thus, to produce the 540 kilowatts output, three of these `power units' were paralleled to add the 180 kilowatts output of three together. This beast produced an RF current of 700 amps in its antenna. Back to recordings: John Levine writes: > Western Electric had a long-standing interest in sound recordings. > During the 1930's they had a project to make ultra-hi-fi recordings > far beyond the then-standard 78 RPM records. They recorded things > like Beethoven symphonies played by famous orchestras. I've heard > transcriptions of a few and the sound is even by modern standards > excellent. With its reason for interest in high-quality sound for radio broadcasting and motion pictures, the art of recording sound on film had produced the most noise-free recording medium of the era preceding magnetic recording. I have recall, but no documentary sources, of WECo's engaging in mastering sound recordings on film; these may have been part of the (at that time) superb sound quality of the Standard Transcription Library. One reason so far as consumer sound recording was concerned is described by Roland Gelatt in his "The Fabulous Phonograph: 1877-1977" (Macmillan, New York, 1977, 2nd ed.): He says that by 1933, "... the record business in America was practically extinct," referring to almost 70 years of virtually no development beyond Edison's basic acoustic methods. Apparently, the record industry had not of its own accord adopted any of the advances that electronics could bring. Even so, my 1928 reference book shows a phono pickup and states that, "Modern electric phonographs, usually combination phonograph and radio broadcast receiver ..." But, another limit had been set for WECo in a 1926 settlement between RCA and AT&T that took AT&T out of radio broadcasting operations: WECo was barred from competing with RCA in the manufacture of consumer radio broadcast receivers; thus, a WECo-made consumer radio could not contain a phonograph. So, while it might seem that the Great Depression was sounding a death knell for the record business, "The Movies" were coming on strong. Yet another director for WECo to stick with its industrial products. For all its various activities, Western Electric of the period after 1930 or so seems to have been interested only in commercial products and sales of its systems to industry. Meantime, Haynes concludes with: > Oh, and my grandmother had a Western Electric sewing machine. It seems that around WW I days, Western Electric was into many sorts of products. I located one reference to early days of things electrical that described an Edison product called an "electric pen." It was a 4,000 rpm electric motor with a short crank connected to a stylus used to punch many tiny holes in copying stencils. The reference says, "The pen was widely advertised and when the Western Electric Co. took it up large numbers were sold. At one time, more than 60,000 were in use..." I also have vague recall of Western Electric having been involved in a wide variety of products over its early years, but have no good single history of the company. Since it was of Cicero, IL origin and was so important there for so long, perhaps there is some Chicago-area history describing the full breadth of Western Electric's ventures over time. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Did Western Electric Also Make Sound Recordings? Date: Mon, 27 May 91 10:32:42 PDT From: haynes@cats.ucsc.edu, aynes@cats.ucsc.edu Re: 16-2/3 RPM recordings - I suspect they are still in use as "talking books for the blind" though they may have been supplanted by cassettes by now. Your public librarian could probably tell you. At one time a blind person could get the loan of a player, from the Library of Congress as I recall, and the materials for the blind were mailable free or at very low rates. There was also a project by I think it was Chrysler to produce an automobile record player at that speed. This was maybe mid-50s, long before cassettes and eight-track cartridges. And for some reason that reminded me of yet another recording format. I vaguely recall a short-lived product from mid 60's that involved a disk record and player that were supposed to be small enough to fit in your hip pocket. Or maybe it was just the records, and they were flexible so if you sat on one that was OK. Which is getting pretty far from telecom. [Moderator's Note: I've done volunteer work for ten years for the Chicago Public Library producing programs for visually-handicapped people. The 16 2/3 rpm records were gone *long* before I started. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 May 91 13:39 EDT From: Macy Hallock Reply-To: macy@ncoast.org Subject: Re: Why a Twist in Modular Cables? Organization: Hallock Engineering and Sales Medina, Ohio USA +1 216 722 3053 >> Can anyone tell me why there is an electrical twist in most (US) >> modular cables? >> I got to thinking about this recently when I started using these >> cables for RS-232. If you're clever about pin assignments, this twist >> can be useful for RS-232. > If the plugs are crimped on so the wires go straight through, and all > adapters are wired that way, you will have no problems. Not always true. Phone people generally think in terms of all punch on type jumper wiring up to the wall jack. This is straight thru type operation ... until the base cord to the instrument is reached. Now, most telecom equipment is designed to take this type of wiring scheme and reflects it in their documentation. If the phone system is using direct connections to its terminating blocks, then the system is setup for one reversal ... the one in the base cord to the set. If the system uses RJ11 or RJ14 type connectors, it usually expects two reversals (one at the system's connection to the building wiring and one at the instrument base cord). Use of intermediate patch panels has been a problem to many, including my company. We have tried using staight thru path cords on intermediate panels with some success ... and try to use an oddball length (read short) to help make them easy to tell from standard base cords. Our unofficial policy is: two and four conductor cords are always standard reversal type base cords. Six and eight conductor cords are either, but straight thru cords are to be labeled "DATA" or "STRAIGHT" or "PATCH" at both ends. Most straight thru patch type cords are three feet long here. We are looking for a source of reasonably priced cord stock in a distinctive color for use in making up straight thru cords ... red or blue would be ideal ... we have a lead on getting black, white and brown stock, but have not yet received pricing. Bear in mind that some electronic phones and data equipment can be messed up by a reversal. > That is the way the DATA industry generally does it. In many sites > 'PHONE" cords have caused needless confusion and are BANNED. With > polarity guards built into modern TT dials, and ringing being across > the line and not to ground, many sites make life simple and ALL > modular cords, both EIA DATA and 'phone' cords are wired straight > through. FWIW most folks use six or eight wire cords for everything, > and cords that come with phones are generally four or even two wire, > so the problem ones are easy to spot. This may be true on sites manned and operated by data people who are not trained/acclimated to the telecom way of things. Here, we find we must live with both worlds. Frankly, I would like to see us use DEC type RJ connectors exclusively for data, but this is not really practical ... much of the wiring we install is set up to be used either way. I have a high regard for AT&T's standards and many of the WE designs, but I think they blew it on this one ... of course I think we all only thought in terms of phone lines and tip/ring when modular phones first came out in the 70's ... and WE though only in terms of its own production efficiency. I have spent many an evening working out RS-232 DB-25 to RJ-45 adaptor wiring schemes with the operations guys ... I'd like to see how others are setting up their RJ type wiring schemes, especially in multiuse wiring schemes involving LAN, RS-232, balun and phone operations. I will happily publish a summary ... email me at macy@ncoast.org ... fax is +1 216.778.6239 Macy M. Hallock, Jr. N8OBG 216-725-4764 Home macy@fmsystm.UUCP macy@NCoast.ORG Note: macy@ncoast.org is best reply path to me. uunet!aablue!fmsystm!macy [No disclaimer, but I have no real idea what I'm saying or why I'm telling you] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #403 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa17797; 28 May 91 4:10 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa00863; 28 May 91 2:27 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa13660; 28 May 91 1:19 CDT Date: Tue, 28 May 91 0:26:25 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #404 BCC: Message-ID: <9105280026.ab03014@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Tue, 28 May 91 00:26:12 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 404 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Future Shock in India [Donald E. Kimberlin] New Mexico Cell Questions [Douglas Scott Reuben] NY/Metro One Switch "Update" [Douglas Scott Reuben] Potential Telesleaze Countermeasure [Jack Winslade] Thanks For Your Help [John Higdon] 101 ESS and Ringing Tones [Jack Winslade] BITNET in Wroclaw, Poland Aftermath [Richard Budd] Re: Did Western Electric Also Produce Sound Recordings? [Dave Levenson] Ringing Tones, etc. [Jack Winslade] Re: Some Comments on History of AIOD [Dave Levenson] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 28 May 91 01:23 GMT From: "Donald E. Kimberlin" <0004133373@mcimail.com> Subject: Telecom Future Shock in India India has long been a favorite of Western writers largely because its society and culture displays nonstop contrasts to a Western mind. The recent funeral of Rajiv Ghandi is no exception, but now telecommunications adds a new dimension. The following AP dispatch appeared in Sunday papers, 26 May 91: "ASTROLOGY VIA FAX: OLD AND NEW COLLIDES IN INDIA "NEW DELHI, India (AP) - The Shankaracharya of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, a Hindu holy man is heartsick. He says Rajiv Ghandi ignored a telefax he sent warning that astrological signs were all wrong for Ghandi's campaign visit to southern India. "The Shankaracharya's story, related in was but one of the ways in which Ghandi's assassination and funeral this week brought out the odd mixture of old and new in India. "Ghandi was slain Tuesday in what authorities believe waa a suicide bombing using plastic explosives. He was cremated Friday in traditional Hindu ceremonies going back 50 centuries. "The ancient and the modern battle daily here, sometimes refereed by a bloated beaurocracy and 19th century civility bequeathed by the former British rulers. Rich and poor eye each other warily and sometimes collide. "In the air-conditioned splendor of New Delhi's five-star hotels, a glance out the window shows the poor taking refuge from the 100 degree-plus heat, dozing on wood-and-rope cots set under dusty trees. "On Saturday, the day after Ghandi's funeral, newspapers carried a story on police using bamboo clubs to drive away the unruly masses outside the cremation grounds. Another told of fires sweeping through more than 400 huts in two poor villages near the capital. "Then there were the usual Saturday supplements directed at the 100 million of India's 844 million who are middle-class. Advice was offered on how to mix a tequila sunrise. An essay, full of winks, wondered why public relations managers of major hotels are always pretty women who swirl about in sumptuous saris. "In this jumble, it's not surprising that swashbuckling Indian film hero Amitabh Bachchan, a friend of Ghandi's family, used a walkie-talkie on Friday to help organize the 5,000-year-old Vedic ritual for the former prime minister's cremation." ------------------------------ Date: 27-MAY-1991 22:42:16.92 From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: New Mexico Cell Questions Hi ... I'll be spending some time in New Mexico in about a week, and after talking (extensively) to the A and B systems there, I still could use a few answers. -> For the "A" systems: Centel seems to operate out of Santa Fe. They do NOT (according to them) have "Nationlink" (aka "Roam America, the "A"'s version of Follow Me Roaming.) Metro Mobile, in Albuquerque, does have Nationlink. Metro Mobile is DMXed to Centel, ie, you can drive from system to system and still get paged and have your Custom Calling features work. Thus, if one calls the Santa Fe roam port to reach a mobile customer, such a mobile customer will be reachable in both the Santa Fe system and the Albq. system. (This is true in other "real" DMX areas, like RI/Boston, Jersey/Phil/Wilmington, NY/Northern NJ/CT/W.Mass, etc.) My question is: Let's say I go to Albuquerque, activate Nationlink, and then spend most of my time in Santa Fe. Will I be able to get calls in Santa Fe due to the DMX? My exeprience with other systems tells me the answer is "Yes", yet I am wondering if anyone else has actually tried this out. -> As to the "B"s: Is there a "B" in Santa Fe? No one was sure about this, and there was some suggestion made that a new system had been set up but no info was available yet. Any word on this? Guess that's about it ... It should be interesting to roam around there and try out the systems. I'm just wondering how Metro Mobile/CT will manage to mess up my bill this time. They can't pass off the blame to someone else, since THEY service Albuquerque as well! Thanks in advance for any info, Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu // dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: 27-MAY-1991 22:58:46.70 From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: NY/Metro One Switch "Update" In case anyone uses Metro One in the NY/NJ area, I am told that on June 14th, they plan to update their switching equipment to Ericson switches. When I asked Metro One/NY if they anticipated any outages, they replied that calls may be blocked for a few moments evey now and then after business hours when they are updating the system, but they don't anticipate any major downtime problems for extended periods of time. I recall that when they've had previous updates, there were outages of a few minutes to about an hour or so, so I'm inclined to agree. Note that DMXed customers from Cell One/South Jersey and Metro Mobile/CT who are in the area (or who have callers use the NYC roam port, which Metro doesn't like ...;) ) served by Merto One may also experience problems receiving calls AND completing OUTBOUND calls. The degree of service interruption tends to vary, so sometimes you can dial out as long as you use the full number with area code (which you don't have to use normally if you are calling to your home area), whereas at other times, all outgoing calls are blocked. I've noticed that DMXed roamers, ie, those from South Jersey, Connecticut, and Western Mass are more frequently blocked than "other" roamers. I've been told there is a correlation due to the DMX, but not one could explain why. The furthest I've ever got was "Oh, it's just the way the software works." Hmmm .... Anyhow, just though I'd mention the update. I'm told that the new switches are very dynamic, and have a great deal of new "roaming" features. Anyone have any idea what this means? Nationlink? Something else? Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu // dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 May 91 18:40:46 CST From: Jack Winslade Subject: Potential telesleaze countermeasure In a recent article, DONALD E. KIMBERLIN writes: > (Just think of listening to a 900 pitch EVERY time you place > a call!) > *LECs will derive yet a tertiary revenue source by tariffing a > monthly charge to *stop* the telesleaze on your order (Do we have > any *7n codes left for an "ad blocking" option?). (An aside here. Think of the controversy between per-line and per-call sleazoid blocking. ;-) Yes, and how about a magic box that detects the 'real' ringback signal and blanks audio between the rings. I can see a real market for those. I guess that THEY (the ubiquitous 'they') will then come up with the technology to fool those boxes into passing the slime through, but then a NEW IMPROVED box will have to be developed at twice the price. > ... and so on. The mind boggles, once the nausea subsides. I agree. Good Day! JSW ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 May 91 20:28 PDT From: John Higdon Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Thanks For Your Help I would like to thank all of those who have sent material on Thrifty Tel via e-mail and FAX. It will be very useful in tomorrow's radio discussion. One thing has emerged as something worthwhile. There is an industry publication known as "Fraud Alert" which is a rag that discusses security and enforcement issues as pertain to the IEC business. One further point that I wish to emphasize: In no way do I or any of my associates condone or encourage fraudulent use of telecommunications facilities. When one uses a service, he must expect to pay for it. I believe this and I live it. But that does not mean that irrational and uninformed terrorization of people in the name of telecom security is to be tolerated. Particularly if that "enforcement" is simply a vehicle to enhance the sagging profits of an otherwise marginal business. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 May 91 18:35:50 CST From: Jack Winslade Subject: 101 ESS And Ringing Tones Larry Lippman writes: > The 101 ESS was also used for Centrex-CU (sometimes referred > to as Centrex-CE). The 101 ESS had internal capability for AIOD > without requiring the hardware described above. GAAAAaack! Don't remind me of that one. Up till the mid '80s we had a 101 at work. It was slaved off of a 5 crossbar and was one of the more ill-behaved of the modern switching systems. I know there are all kinds of stories of funky step switches and EAX offices, but this was right up there with them. It supposedly had all of the features such as transfer, forwarding, etc., but they never seemed to work like the book said they should. One thing that NOBODY could answer, including the two telephone types who were 'stationed' on campus, was why the ringing tone was so irregular. When a call was completed, the first ring was always quite long, sometimes as long as three or four seconds. It then settled down to a more or less one on, two off cadence. (For electronics types, it was almost as if the ring on/off was controlled by a 555 timer in the astable mode, where it took longer to charge on the first cycle. ;-) During periods of high-volume calling, it would almost never gracefully overflow into an all circuits busy condition. Sometimes it would appear to die -- no ring, no busy, no ATB, no nothing, and other times it would sputter a bit and return dial tone. It's no wonder to me why Ma Bell ash-canned these as soon as possible. Good Day! JSW ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 May 91 22:49:22 EDT From: Richard Budd Subject: BITNET in Wroclaw, Poland Aftermath A few months ago I asked TELECOM Digest readers for information about BITNET in Wroclaw, Poland and how an engineering student there could join the network. Wojceich, the Wroclaw student, has obtained an EARN address from the Technical University and tonight sent a message of appreciation for all the advice on obtaining access to the network. BTW, Poland now has two receiving nodes (Warsaw and Wroclaw) anchoring a network serving eighteen universities throughout the country. To handle the demand, the University of Warsaw is installing an IBM 3090 mainframe donated by IBM through its Academic Initiative Program. Richard Budd | E-Mail: Internet-rcbudd@rhqvm19.vnet.ibm.com VM Systems Programmer | Bitnet -klub@maristb.bitnet IBM - Sterling Forest, NY | Phone: (914) 578-3746 Please note new INTERNET address. ------------------------------ From: Dave Levenson Subject: Re: Did Western Electric Also Produce Sound Recordings? Date: 28 May 91 04:01:45 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA In article , telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) writes: > Most readers of telecom who know a little about the fascinating > history of AT&T know that the Western Electric subsidiary was into a > number of things besides strictly telephones, per se, as was the Bell > Labs. I saw a genuine Western Electric washing machine and dryer at an antique show a couple of years ago! The washer was electric, and contained neither a rotating drum nor a rotating agitator. It looked like a rectangular tank (with hot and cold taps to allow the user to fill it) containing a washboard and a brush. An electric motor apparently moved the brush back and forth accross the washboard, slightly below the water-level. I think the articles being washed were placed on the board and the brush was then lowered into place before the motor was started. The dryer was another machine placed next to the washer. It apparently used to dry the washed clothes by squeezing them between rubber-coated rollers. They apparently made wringers before they started making ringers! The washer and dryer were probably from the late 1800's and had the old WeCo trademark with the lightning-bolt. No mention of 'The Bell System' or AT&T. Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 May 91 18:48:43 CST From: Jack Winslade Subject: Ringing Tones, etc. YSAR1111@vm1.yorku.ca (Rick Broadhead) writes: > I've also noticed that busy signals and ringing signals can vary > WITHIN a country. For instance, in Canada and the United States, > these tones vary depending on the exchange dialed. ... And the Moderator Noted: > One sounds one way, another some other way. PAT] It's not only that they SOUND different, equipment that listens for the call progress tones BEHAVES differently as well. One particular prefix, 212-569 (this may have been upgraded in the last few months) still uses the older 'city ring', which has a different (lower) pitch but the same cadence as the modern 'standard' ringback tone. When my system used to dial a system on this office, it could not tell if there was a valid ring, a busy, or if the call was accidentally intercepted in Never Never Land. For example, if it called and found the system busy, it would not immediately abort and log a busy attempt, but it would wait for a timeout and log a failed session. Same for a ring with no answer. A minor inconvenience, but somewhat annoying. It's that older tone that many of us (yes, showing my age, I know) always learned as >>THE<< ringing tone when we first learned to use the phone. After I learned a bit about telephone hardware, I discovered that this tone (and it's accompanying tone, the rude, raucous busy tone -- a klaxon compared to the polite tweet-tweet of today's busy tone) was found mostly on the old panel and #1 crossbar systems, as well as some of the older #5 crossbars. These tones were generated by huge mechanical generators and used in the larger metropolitan offices. There was a discussion of ringing tones in a local conference a while back (but I can't find it now) which discussed this. It made mention of a certain suburban Omaha office which until recently had a vibrating reed tone generator. It was remarked that it sounded like the passing of gas. ;-) Good Day! JSW msged 1.99S ZTC * Origin: [200:5010/2@metronet] Interuniverse Gateway (200:5010/2) ------------------------------ From: Dave Levenson Subject: Re: Some Comments on History of AIOD Date: 28 May 91 03:33:06 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA In article , kitty!larry@uunet.uu.net (Larry Lippman) writes: > I don't believe there was ever any non-WECo apparatus that provided > an AIOD interface. When I was in the interconnect business, selling Mitel SX-200 PBX equipment, I used to notice references to AIOD in the documentation for that product. We never used the feature, or equipped a customer's system to use it, so I have no first-hand experience with it, but the SX-200 PBX, apparently, was AIOD-capable. Anybody at Mitel care to comment on this? Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #404 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa18292; 28 May 91 4:27 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab00863; 28 May 91 2:33 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab13660; 28 May 91 1:19 CDT Date: Tue, 28 May 91 0:32:59 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs Subject: Special Mailing - Patent Office Request BCC: Message-ID: <9105280033.ab32288@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> I received this message from Mr.Riddle and decided to pass it along to you as a special mailing rather than as an issue of the Digest because of its length. If you are interested in responding, do so direct as shown in the message. PAT From: "Michael H. Riddle" Subject: Computer-Related Patents: Request for Comments Date: Mon, 27 May 91 16:59:59 CDT Patrick: I know you closed the subject, but you might wish to reopen it just a little. Many of those who commented on the Hayes patent litigation had firmly held beliefs that software patents, at least as currently applied, were poor policy. Additionally, most of the submissions were intelligent and articulate, and the posters have an expertise bearing on the subject. The Patent and Trademark Office recently issued a Request for Public Comments on this very subject. If I could borrow your "bully pulpit" for a moment, might I pass on their (very lengthy) request? Thanks, Mike 56 FR 22702-02 NOTICES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Patent and Trademark Office Request for Comments for the Advisory Commission on Patent Law Reform Thursday, May 16, 1991 AGENCY: Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce. ACTION: Notice; request for public comments. SUMMARY: The Advisory Commission on Patent Law Reform Commission will be submitting a report to the Secretary of Commerce by August 1992 on the state of, and the need for, any reform in the United States patent system. To ensure that the Commission recommenda- tions represent a true consensus of the American public and the patent user community, public comments are invited on the issues to be considered by the Commission. DATES: Written Comments must be submitted by July 15, 1991. ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to E.R. Kazenske, Executive Assistant to the Commissioner, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Box 15, Washington, DC 20231. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:Jeff Kushan, Commission Special- ist, or Paul Salmon, Commission Specialist; U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Box 15, Washington, DC 20231. Phone: (703) 557-3071. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission requests public comments on the issues set forth below. Each issue should be individually addressed. Submissions should be concise statements of position, including supporting material where relevant, and should be limited to the questions framing each issue. All submissions must include the name and/or professional affiliation of the contributor. To ensure full consideration by the Commission, the submissions should be received by July 15, 1991. I. Protection of Computer Related Inventions The principal issue to be examined is whether the current U.S. patent laws provide adequate and appropriate protection of novel computer program-related inventions. The relationship of patent protection for computer program-related inventions to other forms of intellectual property protection will also be considered. (a) What problems, if any, exist in the current framework of laws which protect computer-related inventions (b) What changes, if any, should be made in the domestic and international systems for protection of computer-related inventions (c) The Supreme Court has found that new and useful computer program-related inventions are eligible for patent protection. What rationale, if any, exists in law or policy for Congress to now remove patent protection for this field of science and technology (d) What evidence exists, if any, that patents issued on new and useful computer program-related inventions do or do not provide an incentive to conduct research and development on new products, and that such patents do or do not promote the development of new technology (e) What conflict or overlap is created by the existence of a patent for a new and useful computer program-related invention and either (1) a copyright for original expression embodied in the computer program fixed therein, or (2) a mask work in the inven- tion; and if any exists, is it harmful or helpful (f) Should Congress legislate the boundary for patents in the computer program area, or is it preferable to permit the courts to continue to define the outer boundary (g) Are the tests of patentability for computer program-related inventions implemented by the USPTO in the notice published in the Official Gazette on August 9, 1989, consistent with the patent statute and/or court decisions If there are inconsistencies, what are they (h) What concrete steps should be taken, if necessary, to revise the PTO examination procedure for computer program-related inventions in order to achieve high-quality issued patents, particularly with respect to: 1. Providing patent examiners with complete, up-to-date prior art; 2. Providing patent examiners with training in this field to raise/maintain their expertise; 3. Recognizing computer science as a "science" for the purpose of qualification to take the PTO registration examination and recruiting computer scientists as patent examiners; 4. Providing an optimum system of classification to maximize the searchability of inventions in this field; and 5. Taking steps to reduce the PTO pendency time for patent applications in this field (i) What procedures, not currently available, should be consid- ered to correct problems caused by improperly granted patents (i.e., post grant oppositions, court nullification), and how would these procedures particularly relate to computer program-related inventions II. Federal Protection for Trade Secrets Trade Secret statutes now exist only at the state level, and are not uniform in the states wherein they exist. The principal issue to be examined is whether Federal Statutory protection should be enacted and if so, how it should relate to state statutes (a) Is there a need for a Federal law on trade secrets What problems have been caused by the absence of such a law What problems would such a law create (b) If there is need for a Federal trade secrets law, on what legal theories (i.e., tort, contract, etc.) should it be based How should it relate to state laws and to what extent, if any, should it preempt state laws (c) If there are specific areas of trade secrets that are inadequately protected by present state laws or by their nature cannot be adequately protected by state laws, would it be possible to enact Federal laws in those areas only, leaving to state law what is currently adequately protected Would such a bifurcated system create more problems that it would solve III. Cost and Complexity of Patent Enforcement Although many patents are enforced through negotiation, resort is frequently made to either litigation in the Federal district courts or to arbitration or one of several other forms of alterna- tive dispute resolution (ADR). Patent litigation is said to be complex, expensive, unpredictable and heavily dependent on the ability of the judge to exert fair and effective control. Arbitration and other forms of ADR would seem to offer significant advantages in many types of dispute, but are not frequently used. (a) Is the cost of patent enforcement too high If so, what can be done within the existing Federal Rules to achieve determinations of validity, infringement and damages more efficiently and economically Which, if any, of the Federal Rules should be changed to improve patent litigation, and how Would provisions in the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 improve patent litigation (b) Is there a need for a "small claims" type of patent proceed- ing in the Federal courts, with simplified procedures and limited recovery If so, describe the characteristics such a proceeding should have, e.g., how procedures would be simplified, what the limits on recovery should be, etc. (c) Should the use of arbitration and other forms of ADR be increased How What, if any, deterrents are there to using ADR and how can they be overcome What additional forms of ADR should be considered for patent disputes IV. Grounds for Holding Patents Unenforceable In the United States, a party charged with infringement of a patent can raise an equitable defense of unenforceability which, if sustained, may preclude exercise of the patent rights even though the patent is valid and infringed. Historically, the defense has usually been based on alleged misconduct occurring after the patent is granted, e.g., restrictive conditions in patent licensing agreements. In more recent years, conduct before the Patent and Trademark Office has frequently been claimed to give rise to the defense, e.g., misrepresentations or alleged failure to comply with the standard for disclosing to the Office information in the patent applicant's possession. Such claims, some argue, are often frivolous and unsupported. (a) What are the benefits and drawbacks of permitting an unenforceability defense in patent litigation, based on alleged misconduct either before or after patent grant (b) Should any change be made in the present Patent and Trademark Office standard relating to the submission of prior art informa- tion, recognizing the need of the Office to consider information bearing on patentability before the patent issues (c) Are existing judicial procedures and standards for resolving unenforceability defenses adequate If not, is legislation desirable and, if so, what kind Discuss any other changes believed desirable. (d) Once inequitable conduct has been found, whether based on conduct before or after grant, is unenforceability the appropriate remedy If not, what other types of remedies might be applied and in what types of situations V. Licensee Challenges to Patent Validity Since 1969, when the U.S. Supreme Court in Lear v. Adkins, 395 U.S. 653, abrogated the doctrine of licensee estoppel, the courts have been dealing ad hoc with a variety of issues flowing from that decision. These include the right of the patent owner to terminate the license agreement and sue for patent infringement, the right of the licensee to recover royalties should the patent be declared invalid, the extent to which the parties should be permitted to contract in advance for the various eventualities, etc. It is asserted by some that this has created considerable uncertainty. Some would provide for all post-Lear eventualities by statute. Others would permit a licensor and licensee to bargain for provisions necessary to protect their respective interests. (a) Is legislation desirable to clarify the results of the Lear decision If so, what should it provide (b) Should any restraints, beyond the normal law of contracts, be imposed on the rights of licensee and licensor to bargain for the results of a potential challenge by the licensee of the licensed patent's validity IV. First-to-File System In the United States patent system, when more than one patent application is filed claiming the same invention, the patent is awarded to the applicant who establishes the earliest acts of invention in the United States and who has not thereafter sup- pressed, abandoned or concealed his invention ("first-to-invent" system). In international treaty negotiations aimed at more uniform patent laws throughout the world, particularly the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) patent harmonization proceedings, the United States is being urged to adopt a different procedure, almost universally used in other countries, under which we would award the patent to the first applicant to file a patent application for the invention ("first-to-file" system). The principal issue presented is whether the United States should change from a first-to- invent procedure to a first-to-file procedure (1) only as part of a comprehensive treaty to harmonize all of the world's patent systems, (2) without regard to a harmonization treaty, or (3) not at all. The following questions are designed to help frame this issue: (a) What benefits do United States patent holders and the public realize from the first-to-invent procedure What detriments are there, particularly those that might not be addressed by further simplification of the procedure to determine priority of inventor- ship (b) What benefits are United States patent holders and the public expected to realize from a first-to-file procedure What deteriments should be expected (c) What benefits are United States patent holders and the public expected to realize from a harmonization treaty What detriments should be expected (d) If the United States retains the first-to-invent procedure, a partial step toward harmonization could be a change permitting applicants to establish dates of invention by reference to knowledge, or sue, or other activity in foreign countries in addition to such activities in the United States. Should such an expansion of admissible evidence of inventorship be adopted (1) only as part of a comprehensive treaty to harmonize all of the world's patent systems, (2) without regard to a harmoniza- tion treaty, or (3) not at all Should such an expansion of admissible evidence of inventorship be adopted (1) only in respect to foreign countries that provide for practicable and effective judicial discovery of foreign inventorship activity, (2) only on a limited basis reflecting credibility of the foreign evidence, or (3) without regard to the legal procedures available in foreign countries (e) If the United States adopts a first-to-file procedure, should it condition this adoption on a grace period during which activi- ties of the inventor or derived through the inventor will not be a bar to patentability by the inventor Should the oath and its attendant sanctions be strengthened in respect to the requirement of originality (f) If the United States adopts a first-to-file procedure, would it be desirable to codify the rights, if any, of a prior user of the invention If so, should such a user have (1) no defense or rights in respect to the subsequent patent, (2) a personal exemption to continue existing commercial use, or (3) some other right Should the prior user rights, if any, extend to one not an actual user, but who has made effective and serious preparations for such use Should it matter if the prior user had elected to practice the invention as a trade secret Should any prior user right be transferrable to someone else Should any such right extend only to use in the United States (a feature in other patent systems) Should any prior user right extend to such users who were not originators of the invention (g) Would a first-to-file patent procedure run afoul of the reference to "inventors" in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Constitution VII. Automatic Publication of Applications In the United States patent system, patent applications are held in confidence by the Patent and Trademark Office and not published until a patent is granted. Patent rights begin on the date of grant. In international treaty negotiations aimed at more uniform patent laws throughout the world, it has been proposed that patent applications be published and confer provisional protection commencing on the date of publication. The Japanese and European patent systems provide for publication of patent applications 18 months after their effective filing dates and feature provisional protection, generally a right to compensation from infringers with actual notice. The principal issue is whether United States patent applications should be published before grant of a patent (1) only as part of a comprehensive system to harmonize all of the world's patent system, (2) without regard to a harmonization treaty, or (3) not at all. The following questions are designed to help frame this issue: (a) What benefit do United States patent holders and the public realize from keeping patent applications confidential until a patent is granted What are the detriments (b) What benefits are United States patent holders and the public expected to realize from a procedure requiring automatic publica- tion of patent applications What are the detriments (c) Should U.S. patent applications be published by some fixed time measured from their U.S. or foreign priority filing dates Does the need for a pre-grant publication differ depending upon whether patent terms are measured from filing date or issue date (d) If pre-grant publication becomes part of the U.S. patent system, is there a need for provisional protection starting from the date of publication Does the need for provisional protection depend upon how the term of the patent is measured (e) If provisional protection is appropriate, what should it include VIII. Patent Term In the United States patent system the term of a patent is 17 years from the date when the patent is granted. Many other countries provide a 20-year term for their patents from the date when the application for the patent was filed. The appropriate term for a patent is under consideration in negotiations aimed at more uniform patent laws throughout the world, as well as in the negotiations on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs) in the current General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Round. The principal issue is whether the United States should measure the life of a patent from the date when the application for it was filed (1) only as part of comprehensive treaties to harmonize all of the world's patent systems, (2) without regard to harmonization treaties, or (3) not at all. The following questions are designed to help frame this issue. (a) What benefits do United States patent holders and the public realize from measuring the life of a patent from its date of grant What detriments are there (b) What benefits are United States patent holders and the public expected to realize from a procedure that would measure the life of a patent from its filing date What would the detriments be (c) If the term of a United States patent is to be measured from the filing date, should the term be extended to compensate for delays due to (1) secrecy orders, (2) marketing delays due to FDA or EPA regulatory procedures, (3) NASA or DOE ownership proceed- ings, (4) appeals, or (5) any other delays outside of the control of the patent applicant (d) Should a United States patent application be permitted to rely upon the date of more than one foreign-filed application for priority, and, if so, should the term of the United States patent be measured from the earliest priority date (recognizing that a modification of the Paris Convention probably would be necessary for adoption of any procedure to measure the life of a patent from any foreign priority date) (e) If the term of a United States patent is to be measured from a filing date, should that date be (1) the earliest United States filing upon which priority is based, (2) the earliest filing upon which priority is based, be it foreign or United States filing date, or (3) the filing date of the application on which the patent is granted (f) If the United States adopts a patent term based upon a filing date, should that term be 20 years If not, how long should the term be IX. Deferred Examination United States patent laws permit an applicant to petition for a deferral of the examination process only for a short period, and then only for "good and sufficient cause." Deferred examination at the option of the applicant is a feature of several foreign patent systems. (a) What would be the benefits of a procedure whereby a patent application is not examined in due course, but instead, the applicant is given the option, for a period of years, to request that the application be examined What would be the detriments (b) If optional deferred examination were adopted, what necessary or desirable companion changes (such as mandatory publication of applications) should be made, if any, in the United States patent law or procedures Should a third party have the right to request examination (c) If optional deferred examination were adopted, should a patent application be deemed abandoned if the applicant fails to request examination within a fixed time after filing Should the applicant be permitted thereafter to re-file an application for the same invention (d) Should the applicant have the option, in lieu of requesting formal examination, to obtain a lower-cost patent of shortened term and reduced enforcement rights X. In re Hilmer Under the interpretation of United States patent law in the case of In re Hilmer (and other cases), a United States patent has a patent-defeating effect (becomes a "reference") as of the earliest filing date in the United States to which it is entitled, but not the earliest foreign filing date to which it is entitled. In other patent systems, patents or applications are effective as references as of their earliest filing date, be it domestic or foreign. (a) If the effective date of a United States patent as a reference should be based on a foreign application filing date, should that foreign priority date be the effective date for anticipation purposes only and not for obviousness purposes so that the Hilmer rule is partially retained in that the United States patents with a foreign priority date are effective only as a reference for obviousness purposes as of the filing date in the United States (b) Is there rationale for abolishing the Hilmer rule totally so that foreign- origin United States patents will be effective as references for all purposes as of their foreign priority filing dates (c) What changes in procedure, if any, should the Patent and Trademark Office adopt to ensure adequate consideration of the disclosures in foreign-origin United States patents in the examination of United States patent applications (d) Should bilateral reciprocity be applied when deciding whether or not a United States patent is entitled to an earlier foreign filing priority date in a particular country for reference purposes XI. Reexamination The reexamination statute permits any person to file, with the requisite fee, a request for the reexamination of a patent in view of prior art limited to prior patents and printed publications. Issues of inequitable conduct, public use and sale, and the like, may not be addressed in reexamination. If the USPTO determines that the request raises "a substantial new question of patentability," the patent is reexamined under the same procedures applicable to the examination of new applications and concludes with the issuance of a reexamination certificate. The reexamina- tion process is basically ex parte in nature, with very limited participation by a third party requestor. Since the present system of reexamination was established by Congress in 1980, there have been numerous proposals to modify reexamination to increase the degree of participation of the requestor and/or to enlarge the scope of reexamination. (a) Do you believe the present reexamination system is working effectively If not, identify each deficiency that you believe exists in the system. (b) Do you believe that the present reexamination system should be modified to permit complete inter partes participation by a protestor at all phases of the reexamination proceeding If so, explain why. If not, explain why. (c) If your answer to question (b) is "no," to what extent, if any, should third parties be allowed greater participation than at present in reexamination proceedings (d) Would you be in favor of modifying the present reexamination system to permit or require one or more of the following: (1) Permitting a reexamination petitioner other than the patentee to comment on any claims in their finally allowed form, so as to provide the examiner with the petitioner's views prior to a final decision as to whether to issue a reexamination certificate (2) Permitting a reexamination petitioner to appeal both to the PTO Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences and to the Federal Circuit from any final decision favorable to a patentee in a reexamination proceeding (3) Conditioning the appeal noted in subparagraph (2) on the petitioner's agreement to forego litigating in any other forum any issue raised or which could have been raised on appeal (4) Precluding an accused infringer from relying as a defense on any prior art of printed publication unless that prior art or printed publication has been previously considered by the PTO either during the original prosecution of a patent or in a reissue or reexamination proceeding involving that patent (5) Precluding a party or its privies, against whom a judgment of invalidity of a patent claim or claims has been entered, from seeking or maintaining reexamination of that claim or claims (6) Requiring that claims of a reexamined application be construed under the same standards as those claims would be construed in a district court infringement proceeding (e) Should the scope of issues considered by the examiner during reexamination be broadened If so, how (e.g., by permitting consideration of public use or on sale bars, section 112 issues, inequitable conduct, etc.) (f) In what other ways, if any, should reexamination proceedings be changed XII. Assignee Filing of Applications The United States currently requires the actual inventor or inventors to file patent applications, subject to a few limited exceptions such as death, unavailability, or insanity. Each application must be accompanied by an oath from the actual inventor which states that the applicant believes he was the first to invent the claimed invention. Nearly all foreign patent systems permit the owner of an invention (whether the actual inventor or the assignee) to file the patent application without an oath signed by the inventor. (a) Should the United States allow filing of patent applications by assignees (b) What benefits and drawbacks would occur by allowing filing of patent applications by assignees (c) What contours should an assignee filing proposal have, including possible safeguards for inventors and the public XIII. PTO Funding and Fee Structure The Patent and Trademark Office historically recovered its costs through a combination of fees and funding from general tax revenues. The major patent fees are filing fees, and issue and maintenance fees in a two-tier system with lower rates for small entities. These fees have undergone substantial increases recently as Congress and the Administration have changed from a policy under which applicants and patent owners paid only a portion of these costs to one under which they pay full costs. (a) What impact, if any, will a system in which PTO costs are almost entirely user-fee funded have on (1) U.S. inventors generally, (2) on small entities, including independent inventors, and (3) the public (b) What realistic and practical alternatives can you suggest, other than user-fee funding, for funding PTO operations (c) Congress historically has provided fiscal oversight for the PTO. Will this attention by Congress continue at the same level in the absence of a significant allocation of taxpayer funds and, if not, what other fiscal oversight is appropriate (d) Should the more public-oriented functions of the PTO, e.g., public search room operations, be funded by user fees, or should such operations be supported by appropriated funds (e) Would it be desirable to increase the average application pendency time in the PTO to a level above 18 months if such increase permitted a significant reduction in PTO fees (f) What are the advantages and disadvantages of retaining a two-tier fee structure (g) Should large entities subsidize small entities in a two-tier structure, or should public funds be used to supplement small entity fees (h) As part of a two-tier fee structure, what would the pros and cons be of (1) redefining a small entity to include fewer than 500 employees, (2) providing a tax credit (e.g., 50%) in lieu of part or all of the 50% subsidy for small entities, (3) denying 50% subsidy benefits, on a need basis, to small entities who receive a defined minimum (e.g., $200,000) in technology transfer fees during the preceding year, and (4) imposing a flat (e.g., 10%) across-the- board fee increase if this permitted the continuance of the current small entity reduced fee structure (i) A major current cost of the PTO is that of automating the search files and system. How should this cost be recovered, if not through fees (j) Is there a mechanism in the Government for long-term investments, such as computer equipment, to be capitalized and paid off over their useful life Would it be possible and desirable to have such investments paid for by a bond over a period of years (e.g., 20 years) instead of by user fees) Should the current relation among filing, issue and maintenance fees be changed and, if so, how Are there other fee strategies which will better balance the need to recover costs and the need to keep the patent system accessible to inventors (k) Should the current relation among filing, issue and mainte- nance fees be changed and, if so, how Are there other fee strate- gies which will better balance the need to recover costs and the need to keep the patent system accessible to inventors (l) In discussions of patent harmonization, the question of pre-issuance publication of U.S. patents has been raised. Given the possible reluctance of Congress to fund the costs of such publication from general revenues, would you support such publica- tion if its cost were totally user-funded Dated: May 8, 1991. Harry F. Manbeck, Jr., Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks. 56 FR 22702-02   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa10105; 29 May 91 1:22 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa12728; 28 May 91 23:45 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa05518; 28 May 91 22:38 CDT Date: Tue, 28 May 91 22:35:52 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #405 BCC: Message-ID: <9105282235.ab19197@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Tue, 28 May 91 22:35:48 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 405 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Did Western Electric Also Produce Sound Recordings? [Chuck Bennett] Re: Did Western Electric Also Produce Sound Recordings? [Scott Dorsey] Re: Did Western Electric Also Produce Sound Recordings? [Jack Powers] Re: A Very Simple ISDN Question [R. Kevin Oberman] Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [Tony Harminc] Re: Viewer-Controlled Cable TV [Ralph W. Hyre] Re: Cheap 9600 bps Modem [Toby Nixon] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 28 May 91 08:42 EST From: "Chuck Bennett (919)966-1134" Subject: Re: Did Western Electric Also Produce Sound Recordings? "Donald E. Kimberlin" <0004133373@mcimail.com> writes: > At WTSP in St. Petersburg, FL we did all those things, right > up into the late 1950's. We had two major "transcription libraries," > The World Transcription Service and the Standard Transcription > Library. Both were 33-1/3 rpm recordings on "16-inch" disks, as the > size was called. Western Electric's piece of this was evidenced on the > Standard transcriptions, which were "vertical cut," that is, the > needle action was vertical in the groove as opposed to lateral in > consumer records. There were claims that "vertical cut" was > higher-fidelity than lateral cut. > To play them back, we had "transcription heads" on the > turntables that could be switched to use either vertical-sensitive or > lateral-sensitive pickup windings. (Yes, windings ... these were > BIG, clunky, long playback arms that while very well-balanced, weighed > a pound or so it seemed. To play a warped record, we'd set a line of > lead type from the composing room on top of the > playback head! Other stations had to use a 50 cent or dollar coin.) The "verticle cut" transcription was of higher fidelity for various reasons. One was that very little equalization was applied (as I recall there were only two or three curves where as lateral had two families and about three or four members in each family), another was that the disks themselves were virtually impervious to the rough treatment that was typical at a radio station (a radial scratch or abrasion was not picked up by the vertical, "hill-and-dale", tracking cartridge). The tonearm was the WEco 5A. Typically in black crinkle finish it had a five pound lead counter-weight. The cartridge was the WEco 9A also in black crinkle or natural satin finish and weighed in a 1 pound! The cartridge had a four pin, male connector that mated with the 5A arm and a thumb screw on top that secured it to the arm. These were the (I believe) very first "moving coil" cartridges which are so much in vogue in highend audio circles today. The stylus was removable/replacable and was a 3 mil spherical diamond on a short vertical shank. My dad did some of the design, engineering and testing of these devices as well as WEco's line of speakers. There is a picture of him in the anechoic chamber at Bell Labs in either Murray Hill or Whippany, NJ. Chuck Bennett INTERNET: uchuck@med.unc.edu Medical Sciences Teaching Labs BITNET: uchuck@unc CB# 7520 University of NC PHONE: 919-966-1134(w) Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7520 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 91 08:55:45 EDT From: Scott Dorsey Subject: Re: Did Western Electric Also Produce Sound Recordings? Organization: NASA Langley Research Center In article TELECOM Moderator writes: > It is still sort of a thrill to watch an old motion picture from the > 1930-40 era and see a notation in the credits saying 'sound by Western > Electric'... when did they get out of the motion picture sound > business? The late forties. They still licensed their "light valve" technology for many years to the film industry. A number of theatres in this area are still using old WE soundheads. > But of more interest to me now was Western Electric's involvement in > phonograph records. It must have been very minimal and limited to the > early days of sound recordings. > Going through my *very old* (1948-49) phonograph records and tapes I > came across "Bach on the Biggest", a recording made of the organ at > the Atlantic City (NJ) Auditorium. It was a 'complimentary/radio > station copy' provided to a station here for promotional purposes, and > the advertising material with it said it was produced "using the > latest and most modern 'sound-capture' techniques of the Western > Electric Company ..." The first 33 rpm records began appearing late in > 1948 as I recall. 33 rpm was originally used for transcription disks in the 1930's, and was quite common for professional use. The transcription disks would use 2.7 mil styli or so, like the 78 rpm recordings. Microgroove 33 rpm records didn't come out until 1949 or so. WE made a number of demo recordings, as well as some live recordings at the 1939 World's Fair which were distributed to radio stations. I am told that they did some recordings at later fairs but have never seen any. > An accompanying tape was a 'modern reproduction' of a wire recording > (anybody out there remember wire recorders? Of course! I knew some of > you would!) made many years earlier by Western Electric apparently for > promotional purposes. The wire-recording converted to 'modern magnetic > tape media' (1949, har har!) was of Henry LeMare, municipal organist > for the City of Atlantic City during the 1920's era. Don't knock 1949 magnetic tape media. I have a pair of 1950 Ampex machines that are in daily use at WCWM, and sound a hell of a lot better than any cassette deck made. Wire recording, granted, is pretty poor overall, primarily because of the lack of AC bias. > Western Electric worked with all the major movie studios back in those > days, but I didn't realize they also worked on phonograph records and > wire recordings ... or did they? Are these antiques just special > things they did for promotions, etc? Any ideas? They are probably promo recordings, but WE made a lot of promos in those days. From time to time you'll even find Vitaphone disks, which are just standard 16-inch transcription disks, wide groove, start in center records that are intended for synchronization to a film. Transcription recording started in the early thirties and every station in the thirties through the fifties had a 16" turntable to play transcriptions with, so a lot of the promo records and stuff designed for radio distribution only was made at 33 rpm. Make sure you use the right stylus to play these back; modern microgroove styli will destroy wide groove records very quickly. scott [Moderator's Note: WECo did recordings at the Century of Progess Fair in Chicago in 1933-34 also according to the late Virgil Fox in a commentary he added to one of his records. Speaking of whom, you are absolutely correct -- one hundred percent -- about the quality of the old records and tapes. A recording in my collection of Fox dates from 1946 at Columbia University: it takes the cake! It is superb, and you could never tell its age by listening to it. The giveaway is the heavy disk, and the old-fashioned way RCA Victor printed their labels. It was a 78 rpm and RCA copied it onto 33 rpm three years later. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 91 15:15:12 PDT From: POWERS@ibm.com Subject: Re: Did Western Electric Also Produce Sound Recordings? I know that Western Electric produced equipment to play phonograph records; I have seen turntables they built. Around 1960, I worked as a projectionist in an old theater that had a Western Electric sound system. This included (massive cast iron) bases for the 35mm projectors and carbon arc lamps, the optical "sound head" assemblies, takeup reel assemblies, all the electronics, and the loudspeakers. The bases had mounting holes and mechanical drive for the turntables, which I found in a back room in a fit of exploration. That's right, an early form of sound movies used sound on records, and this place was equipped (originally) for both kinds of production! I don't know the speed used, but one record would have had to hold 22 minutes of sound to match the duration of a 2,000 foot reel of 35mm film. I seem to recall that the turntables were larger than 12 inches. The installation dated from around 1930. DC power was originally supplied by a battery rack that was charged during non-operating hours; this had been replaced by a motor generator set. The amplifer was capable of five (count'em!) watts. The speakers were conical horns with field coils; the small one in the projection room was still in use, but the immense horn still hanging from the stage ceiling behind the screen was no longer used (an Altec "Voice Of The Theater" unit had taken its place). The electronics was housed in black metal cabinets with Bakelite panels, and every important circuit had a meter on it (including the filament current to the sound head lamps). Audio level controls were of the multi-tap attenuator variety, with the wiper sweeping over a circle of metal buttons right on the panel. Everything was built like the proverbial brick outhouse, and the only real problems I had were with the (also massive) motors. I always wondered where their maintenance man found those old fashioned tubes with different sized pins ... but I never had one burn out in the several years I worked there. Jack Powers powers@ibm.com jackp@well.sf.ca.us Opinions, if any, are mine, if anyone's. ------------------------------ From: oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov Subject: Re: A Very Simple ISDN Question Date: 28 May 91 16:36:07 GMT In article , zweig@parc.xerox.com (Jonathan M. Zweig) writes: > oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov writes: > GACK! This is in direct disagreement with the existence of POTS > interface doohickies I have seen demos of. Basically a box that has > an RJ11 jack for a vanilla phone, and just enough ISDN smarts in it to > accept dial strings, produce ring voltages, etc. > I admit it's pretty horrid to think of turning my data into analog > screamishness so it can get redigitized a meter away, but it would > certainly work to plug a Trailblazer into the analog jack of a > suitably equipped ISDN phone. 64,000 digitizations per second is > 64,000 digitizations, whether my CO's 5ESS switch does it, or the box > on my wall. I have become aware of such things, and I'm sure they work for many applications, but when AT&T bid on our phone system, they promised such a capability. They failed to deliver and, I assume, paid a penalty for failing to meet contractual obligations. 64 KHz is 64 KHz, (but not really 64,000 digitizations per second). But that does NOT mean that plugging in a TrailBlazer will just work. In fact, Trailblazers don't work on some multiplexed analog lines. I am nowhere nearly expert enough on the details of V.32 or PEP to say what difficulty might be encountered, but AT&T told us that "it is not possible". And paid for the opportunity to say it. That does NOT make it right. In fact, it's probably wrong. But it does imply that it is not trivial. And they made it clear that an analog connection to handle answering machines was a lot easier, though not as trivial as it sounds. Things like ring voltage and lack of feedback to the ISDN side of the circuit make it trickier than it seems at first. R. Kevin Oberman Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Internet: oberman@icdc.llnl.gov (415) 422-6955 Disclaimer: Don't take this too seriously. I just like to improve my typing and probably don't really know anything useful about anything. Especially anything gnu. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 91 13:21:34 EDT From: Tony Harminc Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World "Robert L. Oliver" writes: > Well, I can understand the slight differences in tones, etc. But > something rather odd occurred today: I dialed a number in 703, and > instead of receiving the standard U.S. single ring, I received a > non-US double ring. I realize that the equipment can produce whatever > it wants (indeed, our PBX uses double-ring to indicate outside calls, > but the outside caller still hears the US single ring). Isn't there > some sort of BellCore standard that says that the CO has to produce a > US single ring? The CO doesn't produce the ringing tone in the case of Direct In Dial to a PBX. The PBX produces all the call progress tones, unless for some reason the CO can't reach the PBX trunk (PBX is down, trunks are all busy, etc.) I often hear the double ring when calling PBXs in North America. It does seem curious that the double ring was assigned to the external rather than the internal calls, though. Tony Harminc ------------------------------ From: "Ralph W. Hyre" Subject: Re: Viewer-Controlled Cable TV Date: 28 May 91 17:35:36 GMT Reply-To: "Ralph W. Hyre" Organization: AT&T OSS Development, Cincinnati In article Jeff Carroll writes: > whatever happened to the interactive cable/videotex service that > was pioneered in the 70's in Columbus, OH ? The QUBE system was nuked when Warner Cable got into some financial trouble in the early 80's and the decided to not throw away any more money on it. (They also relinquished their Pittsburgh franchise to TCI around the same time -- I don't know how they could have lost money there -- almost EVERYBODY 'needs' cable TV in Pittsburgh due to wierd reception characteristics.) There weren't very many applications for it. I recall there being a game show that allowed the viewing audience to win prizes. QUBE sites in Columbus, Cincinnati, and someplace in Texas (Dallas, I think) were linked for the game. The other application was to choose pay-per-view movies. We never had a videotex application in Cincinnati. ------------------------------ From: Toby Nixon Subject: Re: Cheap 9600 bps Modem Date: 28 May 91 17:19:39 GMT Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA In article , newsham@wiliki.eng.hawaii. edu (Timothy Newsham) writes: > As I understand it, V.32bis is still not an official protocol. The > CCITT people are still "considering" it and still have not made the > proposed protocal official, although it is a foregone conclusion by > most folks that it will soon become the next modem standard. CCITT V.17 and V.32bis were both unanimously adopted by the CCITT on February 22, 1991. They are presently being prepared for publication at this time, but since there were no changes made to the "ballot version" released last November most manufacturers have had copies of the "final text" for a long time. > For those who don't know, V.32bis will the standard for communication > at the real speed (not effective throughput) of 14,400bps. And then > if you have a V.32bis modem with V.42 error correction and V.42bis > data compression, you'll have a maximum effective throughput of 56k > bps (ISDN! :). Well, but ISDN is 64000bps raw synchronous throughput, and with V.42bis on top of V.120 you'll see effective throughput of over 250,000bps. > Forval already makes a V.32bis V.42bis modem (also with MNP5) that > sells for about $1000. I want one! :) There are several other companies already shipping V.32bis modems, including Digicom, Penril, Codex, Prometheus, and US Robotics, and many that have announced the intention to do so (like Hayes). Most of these are under $1,000 (Penril and Codex a bit more, which is to be expected). Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-840-9200 Telex 151243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 USA | Internet hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #405 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa12411; 29 May 91 2:27 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa06743; 29 May 91 0:51 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab12728; 28 May 91 23:45 CDT Date: Tue, 28 May 91 23:37:53 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #406 BCC: Message-ID: <9105282337.ab16820@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Tue, 28 May 91 23:37:45 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 406 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Free Teletypes [Dan Jacobson] Re: Analysis and Comment: 'Booby Trap' Toll Exchanges [Scott Hinckley] Re: International Calling to 800 Numbers [Jim Gottlieb] Re: Bell Atlantic's Guardian Plan [Christopher Lott] Re: ONA Offers New Horizons for Telesleaze [John R. Levine] The Case of the Missing Signature Line Solved [Robert L. Oliver] Re: C&P Telephone "Anti-Slam" Flag and Amazing Service [Robert L. Oliver] Re: C&P Telephone "Anti-Slam" Flag and Amazing Service [wts1] Re: Are Telco Profits Too Large? [Adam J. Ashby] Re: Are Telco Profits Too Large? [Guy J. Sherr] Re: Calling US 800-Numbers From New Zealand [Ehud Gavron] AT&T's Cornet [Jack Dominey] EDIF/VHDL CAE Surveys Wanted [Latvala Ari] Legal Ad for New England Tel ISDN Hearings [John R. Covert] 1-900-NO-CHIEF [Paul S. Sawyer] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dan_Jacobson@att.com Subject: Re: Free Teletypes Reply-To: Dan_Jacobson@ihlpz.att.com Organization: AT&T-BL, Naperville IL, USA Date: Tue, 28 May 1991 12:08:13 GMT On 28 May 91 01:29:41 GMT, Stan@li.psi.com (Stanfield L. Smith) said: > Model 15 teletypes - Newswire vintage, 5 level baudot, gears for any By the way, is it true that some "Newsradio" stations nowadays just pipe in teletype clicking to make their newsroom more newsy sounding? E.g., WBBM-AM in Chicago has this sound. ------------------------------ From: Scott Hinckley Subject: Re: Analysis and Comment: 'Booby Trap' Toll Exchanges Date: 28 May 91 14:01:33 GMT Reply-To: scott@hsvaic.boeing.com Side note: When I used MCI to dial a 212-394-**** number I recieved the following message, aparently from the 394 exchange: "You have reached a non-working number in the 394 exchange. There is no charge for this call." MCI would not complete a call to a 976 number. Scott Hinckley Internet:scott@hsvaic.boeing.com|UUCP:...!uunet!uw-beaver!bcsaic!hsvaic!scott DISCLAIMER: All contained herein are my opinions, they do not|+1 205 461 2073 represent the opinions or feelings of Boeing or its management| BTN:461-2073 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 91 07:21:59 PDT From: Jim Gottlieb Subject: Re: International Calling to 800 Numbers Organization: Info Connections, West Los Angeles In article the Moderator Noted: > [Moderator's Note: Well, what I have heard lately is that if you are > willing to pay for a call to the IOC, they will put it through to that > point then it'll be dialed back out from there to the destination. PAT] But only to AT&T 800 numbers. If it's another carrier's you're out of luck. Or use CCCS. They will connect you to any 800 number they can call from New Jersey. I have posted on these folks before. Jim Gottlieb E-Mail: or V-Mail: +1 213 551 7702 Fax: 478-3060 Voice: 824-5454 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 91 12:21:05 -0400 From: Christopher Lott Subject: Re: Bell Atlantic's Guardian Plan I double-checked the policy for this rip-off insurance, and found that the policy goes into force at the company's discretion but not any later than 30 days after you request it. So I guess you could be insured within minutes, if the rep is willing, or you could wait quite a while. chris ------------------------------ Subject: Re: ONA Offers New Horizons for Telesleaze Organization: I.E.C.C. Date: 28 May 91 10:41:44 EDT (Tue) From: "John R. Levine" In article is written: > It seems someone has a patent to inject advertising messages > in the silent intervals between audible ringing signals. Worse yet, > the RBOCs seem to be all agog at this marvelous new thought about > getting revenue out of otherwise "dead air time!" I read about this several years ago when it first came out. It turns out that most of the technology is involved in injecting the advertisements at the caller's end, even though the ring is generated at the callee's end. The thought was that for a discount on the monthly service rate, a subscriber would consent to be subjected to ads. It seems to have occured to them that just sticking ads into rings heard by random callers would generate considerable ill will for the advertisers. For that matter, I don't know why companies with DID PBXes don't put their own ads into the ring sound now -- it wouldn't be technically hard. (Attention marketeers: Patent pending, don't try it. :-) I don't know why it's suddenly coming back now, except perhaps that the last of the old Bell System managers who thought of the phone company as a service are retiring, and the new ones have less shame. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ From: "Robert L. Oliver" Subject: The Case of the Missing Signature Line Solved Organization: Rabbit Software Corp. Date: 28 May 91 23:19:22 GMT cbmvax!.UUCP!robert@uunet.uu.net (Robert L. Oliver) writes: > Robert Oliver Rabbit Software Corp. 215 993-1152 > 7 Great Valley Parkway East robert@hutch.Rabbit.COM > [Moderator's Note: Mr. Oliver's signature did not say *which city or > state* he is located in -- I didn't truncate it! :) PAT] Our news software truncates signatures longer than four lines. And my signature was exactly four lines, BUT it started with the pseudo-standard "--" line, which our news software counted as a full line. Thus, it thought I had a five line signature and killed my city/state line. I've reformatted things a bit ... Hope this is better. Robert Oliver Rabbit Software Corp. 215 993-1152 7 Great Valley Parkway East robert@hutch.Rabbit.COM Malvern, PA 19355 ...!uunet!cbmvax!hutch!robert ------------------------------ From: "Robert L. Oliver" Subject: Re: C&P Telephone "Anti-Slam" Flag and Amazing Service Organization: Rabbit Software Corp. Date: 28 May 91 22:18:04 GMT c_bstratton@hns.com (Bob Stratton) writes: > I was recently ordering service from C&P Telephone (A Bell Atlantic > company) of Maryland, and I was repeatedly stunned to find what I > consider to be exceptionally accomodating service -- has anyone else > noticed this change from RBOCs?? I've received excellent service from Bell of PA, my local Bell Atlantic division. I had a recent complaint about an AOS and they were quite helpful. I wish I had the same service from my local Electric / Gas company (Philadelphia Electric Company). Now that Bell has given up the task, PECO now gives me reason to contact the PUC. If you're in PECO territory, beware: anyone can intentionally or accidentally call in and have all your service shut off and PECO will NOT require written verification or anything. ZAM no electric or gas. Happened to me while I was on vacation. And rather than being apologetic, all the management and claims adjusters are obnoxious. The customer service reps were nice, though. But I digress. Not all the RBOCs have cleaned up their customer service. Comparison: At the convention center in Washington, D.C., C&P had realized that the original number of payphones was insufficient, and had set up pods of auxilliary phones to address the problem. At the World Congress convention center in Atlanta for Comdex Spring '91, Georgia Bell had NOT done any such thing. People lined up waiting for payphones the entire week. So it's definitely an individual RBOC improvement in customer service on Bell Atlantic's part. Robert Oliver Rabbit Software Corp. 215 993-1152 7 Great Valley Parkway East robert@hutch.Rabbit.COM Malvern, PA 19355 ...!uunet!cbmvax!hutch!robert ------------------------------ From: wts1 Subject: Re: C&P Telephone "Anti-Slam" Flag and Amazing Service Organization: AT&T Federal Systems Advanced Technologies - Burlington, NC Date: Tue, 28 May 1991 15:28:00 GMT In article strat@gnu.ai.mit.edu writes: > I was recently ordering service from C&P Telephone (A Bell Atlantic > company) of Maryland, and I was repeatedly stunned to find what I > consider to be exceptionally accomodating service -- has anyone else > noticed this change from RBOCs?? > This does not correspond with my traditional experiences in dealing > with C&P. Is it just Baltimore that's like this, or have all the areas > improved their service? I spent two weeks last winter begging C&P of > Virginia to tell me what kind of switch I was on, and when I could > expect CLASS services. *sigh* Well, if anyone wants to start collecting data points for improved RBOC service, I had a problem (5/17)that the operator said the business office would gladly handle and to call the business office tomorrow morning. When I reminded the operator that tomorrow was a Saturday (5/18), she said "the business office is now open on Saturday. Thank you for using Southern Bell, and have a pleasant day Mr. Sykes." I called Saturday AM, and sure enough, the office was open! Anyone know if this is just Southern Bell in NC, all of BellSouth, or other RBOCs also? First Class! William T. Sykes AT&T Federal Systems att!cbnewsb!wts1 Advanced Technologies Burlington, NC UUCP: att!burl!wts [Moderator's Note: The sisters all pretty much do things the same way at about the same time. Illinois Bell started having Saturday business office hours also, plus evening hours once or twice a week. PAT] ------------------------------ From: "Adam J. Ashby" Subject: Re: Are Telco Profits Too Large? Date: 28 May 91 16:01:20 GMT Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Division In article , bmontgom@hvtvm4.vnet.ibm. com writes: > Food for thought: British Telecom announced yesterday profits of 95 > pounds a second ie annual profits of 3000 billion pounds ... leading > to comments from competitors that BT charges too much for use of its > local lines. I don't know how this compares to US telecom operators, > but I think it could be described as somewhat excessive. A couple of points to mention here ... 1) I somewhat doubt the validity of your figures - especially as I remember not long ago everyone was aghast at BT making one million pounds a day - or one third of one billion pounds. 2) Is that a 'British' billion (1x10E12) or an 'American' billion (1x10E9)?? 3) Describing it as excessive is very subjective - it wouldn't seem so excessive if you were a shareholder, would it?? Adam Ashby ...!uunet!motcid!ashbya +1 708 632 7271 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 91 19:07 GMT From: "Guy J. Sherr" <0004322955@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Are Telco Profits Too Large? Patrick, You may wish to remind some of us that English notation given as a billion is actually a number with 12 zeroes, and not 9. 3000 billion pounds sterling would therefore be 3,000,000,000,000,000 pounds sterling written out, and I believe worth approximately 4.5 quadrillion US dollars (apologies to those following the exchange rate). This number seems to be inaccurate. It is more than 50 years of the United States's GNP. ------------------------------ From: Ehud Gavron Subject: Re: Calling US 800-Numbers From New Zealand Date: 28 May 91 18:00:27 GMT Reply-To: sunquest!alpha!gavron@uunet.uu.net Organization: Sunquest VMS Internals, Tucson AZ In article , ct@dde.dk (Claus Tondering) writes: >> [Moderator's Note: With USA Direct, I think you pay for a call to the >> IOC, and it is then dialed out to the desired 800 number. PAT] > I tried that a couple of years ago, but the USA Direct operator would > not connect me to an 800 number. A friend tried to reach my (US Sprint provided) personal 800 number from Saudi Arabia. She was informed that toll-free calls were not possible. Ehud Gavron (EG76) gavron@vesta.sunquest.com ------------------------------ From: jdominey@bsga05.attmail.com Date: Tue May 28 15:41:29 EDT 1991 Subject: AT&T's Cornet In V11#400, Steven S. Brack asks: >> The following is part of an AT&T letter dated May 6, 1991: >> Phone (317) 352-8500 Cornet 358-8500 Fax (317) 352-8468 > A quick, simple question: what is Cornet? Pat responded that Cornet is AT&T's internal phone system. Pat's partially correct. About three years ago, I recall seeing a company bulletin saying Cornet was being phased out in favor of an internal Software Defined Network. Cornet was limited to certain parts of the company (Bell Labs and former Western Electric locations?). In six years with AT&T, I've never directly encountered it, although I saw some references. If memory serves, Cornet was a tandem network. Much of the traffic was carried over dedicated lines running from switch to switch. It did provide seven-digit dialing anywhere in the country. Assuming I'm right, then AT&T Long Lines would have issued billing for the dedicated lines connecting the switches, WECo handled the equipment leasing, and millions of ratepayer dollars paid for the internal accounting! Jack Dominey, AT&T Commercial Marketing, Tucker GA V: (404)496-6925 AT&T Mail: !dominey ------------------------------ From: Latvala Ari Subject: EDIF/VHDL CAE Surveys Wanted Organization: Tampere University of Technology Date: Tue, 28 May 91 09:13:13 GMT Dear reader, Please email identification/publication info, if you know of recent survey (executed during last two years), concentrating to topics listed hereunder, from point of view of the industrial / academic user / R & D or project designer. Also commercial surveys are of interest. Please inform also your rating grade of referred survey: Topics: 1. Interfacing of EDA (electronic design automation) CAD/CAE - tools 2. Frameworks 3. EDIF and VHDL in daily use of industrial design projects. Robustness, future open system needs. 4. Design data flows in multiple sub-vendor, multiple customer EDA-service industry Motivation: We are executing this kind of a survey among industrial users in Finland, during next 6 months and are appreciating any reference survey information. We can negotiate from the mutual share of results. Thanks in advance. Ari Latvala ( latvala@cs.tut.fi) Research Institute for Information Technology TUT - Tampere University of Technology, POB 527, SF-33101 TAMPERE, FINLAND Tel: +358-31-162521 Fax: +358-31-162913, Internet: latvala@cs.tut.fi ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 May 91 23:06:31 PDT From: "John R. Covert 28-May-1991 0145" Subject: Legal Ad for New England Tel ISDN Hearings The legal ad for D.P.U. 91-63 has been issued, announcing a public hearing on NET's ISDN offering to be held on Thursday, June 13, 1991 at 10:00 A.M. in the Leverett Saltonstall Building, 100 Cambridge Street, Boston. NET proposes to offer ISDN Basic Service (voice and packet data over a single access line) as an add-on to one party residence and business main telephone exchange service and INTELLIPATH Digital Centrex Service. The filing also includes optional services including call management functions and display of call-related information. N.E.T. intended for the tariff to become effective on April 8th, 1991; the DPU intends to "investigate the reasonableness of the Company's proposal" and has suspended the tariff effective date until October 8th to allow time for hearings and investigation. john ------------------------------ From: "Paul S. Sawyer" Subject: 1-900-NO-CHIEF Organization: UNH Telecommunications and Network Services Date: Tue, 28 May 91 22:54:33 GMT News item: The fire chief of Louden, New Hampshire resigned recently, after the town received a telephone bill for over $1,000 in 900- calls. It is said he made 84 calls to a "sex line" over a period of five hours. Paul S. Sawyer {uunet,attmail}!unhtel!paul paul@unhtel.unh.edu UNH CIS - - Telecommunications and Network Services VOX: +1 603 862 3262 Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3523 FAX: +1 603 862 2030 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #406 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa16482; 29 May 91 4:38 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa10062; 29 May 91 3:01 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa14884; 29 May 91 1:52 CDT Date: Wed, 29 May 91 0:48:59 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #407 BCC: Message-ID: <9105290048.ab15230@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Wed, 29 May 91 00:48:51 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 407 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Something Sounds Fishy: $700 Credit For AT&T Employees? [Rick Farris] Bell of PA Toll Information [Scott D. Green] A Visitor Observes Phone Service in the UK [Alex Beylin] New PIN For My AT&T Card? [Douglas Scott Reuben] Cellular One Dialing Procedures [Ole J. Jacobsen] Strange Phone/Laptop Interference Problem [Bill Rubin] Re: Old Phone Museum Being Cranked Up [Bud Couch] Employment Opportunity: Telecommunications Position [Don Zarlengo] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rick Farris Subject: Something Sounds Fishy: $700 Credit For AT&T Employees? Organization: RF Engineering, Del Mar, California Date: Tue, 28 May 91 06:47:56 GMT Do all AT&T employees receive $700 credit on their phone bills each month? A local modem hobbyist is raising quite a stir by bragging about the $700 credit he receives each month as a "part-time computer security consultant" for AT&T. Because the only security for MS-DOS machines (the only computer *he's* ever seen) is physical security (maybe that's it; he's bolting computers to desktops ...), a group of us were wondering why he would be entitled to such a large credit for part-time work. On the other hand, a stipend and a large phone-bill credit would be just right for a paid informant; one that searches out pirate and phreak BBSs and reports on them. So is a $700 credit reasonable for part-time work? If so, geez, what kind of credit do full-timers get? Rick Farris RF Engineering POB M Del Mar, CA 92014 voice (619) 259-6793 rfarris@rfengr.com ...!ucsd!serene!rfarris serenity bbs 259-7757 [Moderator's Note: He may get that sort of allowance for being a snitch -- a 'part time computer security consultant' -- each month, since after all, he has to spend a lot of time on line long distance spying on sysops and users -- if that is what he does -- but I don't think that is a usual benefit for AT&T employees. What I've heard is that they receive either all or a portion of their long distance service for free; but I doubt that it runs $700 per month for most employees! But still, if he is tattling on naughty users and sysops, why would he say anything about it at all and blow his cover? Has anyone confirmed this? Is he just running off at the mouth? There are a lot of people who *wish* they could be ... uh hum! 'computer security consultants', you know. It might be just fanciful thinking on his part. Tell him you'll believe it when you see his AT&T bill with an adjustment like this on it. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 91 12:41 EDT From: "Scott D. Green" Subject: Bell of PA Toll Information Some of you may have heard of Bell of PA's plan to eliminate the dialing of 1+xxx-xxxx for calls within the 215 area. This will become mandatory by Jan. 1, 1992 (I think), and is currently optional. Anyway, WRT no longer knowing whether our call will be local or toll, Bell has responded! Announced today (5-28) on "Bell of PA's Inside Line" is the Toll Information Line. By dialling 800-734-5910, one may learn whether one exchange is local or toll to another exchange within 215. [Sorry, I don't know if this number is available outside of 215.] Very simply, the system prompts the caller for the originating exchange (it does *not* assume [or does not ANI] the exchange you happen to be calling from at the time) and the destination exchange. It then reports "local" or "toll," (no rate information, though) and, if "toll," explains that the info is only valid for POTS, and if you subscribe to any extended calling plans, etc. to check your phone book. It also allows you to continue tapping in originating and destination exchanges, explains that your switchable pulse-tone phone needs to be in the tone position, and if your phone is rotary only to call "0." ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 91 13:01 EDT From: Alex Beylin Subject: A Visitor Observes Phone Service in the UK Having just come back from a vacation in England, I thought I'd share some of my observations with Telecom readers. Please note that all information is based on personal experience and informal surveys and may be widely off-base. First and foremost - BT is replacing traditional red telephone booth with modern looking glass enclosures. I called the BT operator in Coventry and was transfered to a person responsible for sales of telephone boxes. Unforunately, he told me that there is a very long waiting list to buy them. He also indicated that only one in every three or four units are sold and the rest are thrown away due to damage. Now, if someone on the net with better BT connections then I could find out where they throw them away, I don't think painting and replacing some of the glass pannels would be that big of a job. I have some connections in Midlands to help ship a few of those to US. Could we arrange a group buy of those with BT? Also while I was there, BT released their profit statements and all hell broke loose in the papers. The common opinion seems to be that BT makes more money then they should. On the home front, majority of people I met still have BT as their one and only carrier. One of my friends just added Mercury to his business phone and observed 35+% drop in LD charges. He had to replace all his phones as the standard BT phone was not compatible with Mercury (no tones?). His current phone is made by Southern Bell. He has to dial an access number to get to the Mercury network. The state of pay phone confusion is unbelivable. BT phone cards are widely available but work only in BT phones. Mercury phone cards are also available, but work only in Mercury phones. In London most BT and Mercury pay phones will not accept coins - I was forced to carry both cards. Some BT phones do accept coins and even give change, contrary to the sign on the phone. None of the home phones I used (8-10) had tone dialing - pulse only. Well, enough rambling. As I said, all this is just personal observations and may not resemble truth in any way. Alex Beylin, Systems Specialist | +1 313 759-7114 alexb@cfctech.cfc.com | Chrysler Corp. MIS sharkey!cfctech!alexb | Distributed Systems Group ------------------------------ Date: 28-MAY-1991 16:00:34.60 From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: New PIN for my AT&T Card? I just got this in the mail from AT&T: Dear Mr. Douglas Reuben, In a few weeks, you will be receiving a new AT&T Calling Card to replace the AT&T Calling Card you now carry. When it arrives, you'll notice that your new card looks different. It even has a DIFFERENT ACCOUNT NUMBER FROM YOUR CURRENT AT&T CARD. (Emphasis added). In order to comply with government requirements, AT&T is no longer sharing card numbers with your local telephone company. Now, AT&T is issuing new card numbers that are exclusive to AT&T. Your new AT&T Calling Card will continue to provide all the advantages you've grown to expect from AT&T. [Stuff about verifying the present account you have with AT&T] [They list a number for "changes to your account" as 800-447-2000. So does this mean that we will all need to know at least *two* PIN numbers now? And how is everyone supposed to know that "If it's a local call use my BOC card, while if it's an inter-LATA call use my AT&T card"? How many people actually can tell in advance what is a intra- compared to an inter-LATA call? Example: You are in Greenwich, CT. You want to call NYC. Who gets the call? NYTel or AT&T? You then want to call to Poughkeepsie, also in New York State. Who gets it? Finally, you want to call Fisher's Island, in area code 516 for Long Island, NY? (Ans.: NYTel, AT&T, AT&T.) Now I don't consider my friends, parents, and relatives to be all that ignorant on how to use a telephone, but I just can't see how THIS is going to be explained to them by AT&T and/or the BOCs. AT&T and the BOCs sure didn't do a good job when it came to warning people about AOSs until quite late in the game; I am wondering how much more confusion this nonsense will cause. Note that if I use MCI or Sprint, which have similar calling card setups (via an 800 or 950 number), I can usually make INTRA and INTER LATA calls on the same card, and even on the same call. (The charges may be higher for INTRA LATA calls than what the BOC/GTE/local companies charge, however). This works quite infrequently with AT&T's system, ie, rarely can you "sequence" (make multiple calls) from INTER LATA to INTRA LATA. In the event than any AT&T Calling Card people area reading this, all I can say is that this is quite disappointing. I assume His Honor managed to have something to do with this ("government" = Green, J., right? ;) ), but unless AT&T starts allowing local (INTRA) LATA calls to be completed on its card, I think I may just get ITT or MetroMedia or someone with free 950 access, where I can use the same card for both INTRA and INTER LATA calls. (No big deal to AT&T I'm sure, but a lot less trouble for me!) Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu // dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet [Moderator's Note: Did they specifically say you could NOT make local calls on the card or would NOT be able to use the local telco's card to make calls on the AT&T network? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 91 18:27:30 PDT From: "Ole J. Jacobsen" Subject: Cellular One Dialing Procedures Folks, I am trying to convince Cellular One here in the Bay Area that they need to start accepting "canonical numbers" from cellular phones in order to be in compliance with generally accepted industry standards. (I've heard that there is even an IEA recommendation for this.) If you can help me put forward my case I'd be grateful. By "canonical numbers" I mean 10 digit numbers of the form: (Area Code) prefix-number, e.g., (415) 962-2599. Dialling such a number should *always* work, even if you are in your "home" area code, i.e. in 415 in this case. When I first got my phone about three years ago, everything worked just fine, canonical numbers could be stored in memory and "dialled" (sent to the MTSO by means of the S(p)END button), regardless of whether the call was for within 415 or not. When Pac*Bell introduced 1+ dialling for long distance calls, Cellular One decided in their infinite wisdom to follow suit, and changed the dialling procedure accordingly. So, now you have to dial 1 202 555-1212 or whatever. They forgot (or so it seems) to enforce it for "local" calls, so until recently you could still call a 415 number using canonical style dialing: 415-xxx-yyyy. Then recently, they discovered this "hole" and now you can *only* dial "local" calls using seven digits: xxx-yyyy. While I can sort of understand their idea that "it should work just like a regular phone" the trouble is that you cannot store numbers in memory any more and use the phone while travelling. I am trying to get them to accept canonical dialling *AS WELL AS* their current silly scheme, but so far I have not had much luck finding anyone who even understands what I am talking about. Some of the answers I have received so far include: "All our calls are routed through Pac*Bell, so we have to follow Pac*Bell's dialling procedures!" "We do not have any plans to market the dialling procedure you requested at this time." "All of our switches are programmed from Toronto, thus you can't talk to the guy in charge of switch programming." Since cellular systems employ pre-origination dialling, i.e., the entire number is sent to the switch before any connection is made, then it is clearly a small matter of programming to make this work correctly, or is it not? Ole J Jacobsen, Editor & Publisher ConneXions--The Interoperability Report Interop, Inc., 480 San Antonio Road, Suite 100, Mountain View, CA 94040, Phone: (415) 941-3399 FAX: (415) 949-1779 Email: ole@csli.stanford.edu Direct: (415) 962-2515 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 00:24:01 EDT From: Bill Rubin Subject: Strange Phone/Laptop Interference Problem I was at my in-law's this past week, and ran into a strange problem. Maybe someone out there can help diagnose it for me. First, my setup. I have a Toshiba laptop, with the Toshiba brand internal modem. The machine works on batteries, so the only time I generally use it when it's plugged in is when I've run down my battery and haven't have a chance to recharge it. I was trying to use the laptop in a room where the phone and answering machine were connected using a line splitter at the wall jack, and the splitter didn't fit the jack very well, so it was sticking out and easy to pull out of the wall accidentally. There wasn't even any need for the splitter, since the answering machine had a phone out jack, and I was using that for my laptop connection. Anyway, I was using the laptop with no problem under battery power, but as soon as I plugged the computer into the AC, I started getting wierd stuff out of the modem - and it sounded like it was picking up a radio station! I tried a couple of different outlets, turning on and off the answering machine, but the only thing that could make the modem work was to unplug the machine from the AC, either at the laptop, or the outlet. Oh yes, when this was occurring, I was unable to dial using the regular phone as well, it got the same interference. So, my question is, what was going on? Is it possible that the very poor fit of the phone splitter was allowing phone signals to be jammed by whatever was coming out of the laptop? But if so, why should it only occur when I was using the AC? Any suggestions are appreciated. Bill rubin@watson.ibm.com ------------------------------ From: Bud Couch Subject: Re: Old Phone Museum Being Cranked Up Organization: Kentrox Industries, Inc. Date: Wed, 29 May 1991 04:07:08 GMT In article Ron writes: > The 5,400-square-foot building for the museum is being donated > by Pacific Telecom Inc., a company in Vancouver, Wash., that owns both > North-West Telecommunications and Cencom Inc., which operates some > local phone companies in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. Pacific Telecom also bought out the old RCA Alascom system, and is "The Phone Company" in Alaska. Bud Couch - ADC/Kentrox If my employer only knew.. standard BS applies ------------------------------ From: Don Zarlengo Subject: Employment Opportunity: Telecommunications Position Date: 29 May 91 01:09:16 GMT Organization: NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA May 22, 1991 Sterling Software Permanent Position on the East Coast Telecommunications Network Management Specialist The position will operate under minimal direction, and will design, implement, manage and maintain complex nationwide multi-media telecommunication systems. The candidate must be fully capable in the use of advanced telecommunications modeling and design techniques. They must also be fully capable of making design trade-off decisions which result in fully interoperable networks consisting of supporting multiple communication protocols. They will provide technical guidance pertaining to all phases of telecommunications technology, including transmission media, protocols and performance, and the availability agents of large complex networks. They candidate must have one or two years of experience with Netview or with some other equivalent software. The position will provide guidance to diverse groups working on large projects on an agency-wide scale. They will analyze industry trends and apply these trends to the development of value added network solutions. They will become a recognized authority of network technology. They should have at least ten years telecommunication experience. A bachelor's degree in a related field and an advanced degree preferred. Contact: Dr. Don Zarlengo Sterling Software 1121 San Antonio Road Palo Alto, CA 94303 415 964-9900 415 969-3821 fax ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #407 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa16556; 29 May 91 4:40 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab10062; 29 May 91 3:07 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab14884; 29 May 91 1:53 CDT Date: Wed, 29 May 91 1:46:02 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs Subject: New Telecom Archives Mail Server; Index to Archives BCC: Message-ID: <9105290146.ab23891@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> I am pleased to announce a new mail service is available for use with the Telecom Archives. It is just in the beginning stages, and will have more and more of our files on line as time goes on. My understanding is this service is *only* for the Telecom Archives at this time. Furthermore, this service is intended for NON-INTERNET sites who would otherwise not have access via ftp. If you can use ftp lcs.mit.edu, then you are strongly encouraged to continue doing so. The program described below was written by Doug Davis so that our many readers on the commercial mail services, Fido, and similar sites (Portal and Chinet for example) can also participate. FIRST, here is a help file, prepared by Doug Davis: From: "Doug Davis at letni.lonestar.org" Subject: Help File Date: 27-May-91 23:14:40 CST (Mon) This mail server is pretty simple minded, commands are sent as a single line in the body of the message. The ``Subject:'' (if any) will be returned as the subject line from the mail off of this site. This way you can keep track of your own requests. The following commands are available. Pretend the parser is stupid and spell and space them exactly as they are listed here. Anything else in in the body of the message will be quietly ignored. Path:{rfc-976/internet/@) return address for yourself} The parameter of this command should be internet style notation for your username. If your machine is not locateable on the internet via an MX record or gethostbyname() don't bother trying this, since the returning mail will undoubtably be lost. Command:[sub-command]{parameters/filenames} Currently the only supported subcommand right now is "send" with the parameters being the filenames separated via spaces to be sent via return mail to you. For example, to get the index file, send the server a message with the line below in the body of the message. Command: send index This will cause the index of available files to be sent back to you. Also, this is a system V site (hey it was cheap) so you will have to request the file via it's short time. Some later version of the server software will work with the longer names. Oh, yeah, in the above, means the space-bar, i.e. a character with the value of 0x20 hex. Not the word itself. Mailing addresses: telecom-archive-request@letni.lonestar.org: The mail server itself telecom-archive-server@letni.lonestar.org: Returning mail to you will come from this address. Mail sent TO this address will be silently ignored. doug@letni.lonestar.org: My address. Other notes, There is a 500k (per-day) limit on messages leaving the server. If the backlog has exceeded this you will be sent a short note saying your request is acknowledged and how many requests are in the queue before yours. Also presently the back issues of the Digest are being reformatted and are not presently available, my hope is to finish them by the first part of June. doug (Mon May 27 1991) ----------------- Pat again: What Doug means is the back issues of the Digest are not yet available *via this service*. If using ftp, then of course you can get the back issues or any other desired files. When this project is finished, I believe it will be set up so that individual back issues can be pulled, at least for the most recent volumes created here at Northwestern. (We may have some problems with lack of standardization from the JSol days ... time will tell how those old issues work out.) -------- Next, I have attached here the current index to the archives, for the benefit of ftp users. *This is not the same index as Doug will give you if you use his new program*. Same articles, but use his index to order via his service. Below is the main directory, and the sub- directory devoted to telecom.security.issues. I have not included here the sub-directories on Minitel, Tymnet or a couple other things. The back issues of the Digest are in sub-directories by year and volume number. Again, I stress this is the ftp version ... Doug does not yet have any back issues of the Digest on line. We are running TWO archives right now in parallel: the one at MIT which has always been there for users with ftp-ability, and the new one at Doug's site which is gradually being constructed, although quite a bit is available now. Bitnet people may continue to use 'bitftp@pucc.bitnet' if they wish, or they may use this new service. Internet people can use it if they want to see how it works, but please don't abuse it: keep the load down for the benefit of the folks who *must* use this system. Now here is the main directory for the Telecom Archives at lcs.mit.edu: (Up to date as of 5-27-91. The 'telecom-recent' file changes daily, since this is where the most recent issues of the Digest are stored until a group of 50 is collected. We break these at the fiftieth and hundredth issues.) total 3458 drwxrwxr-x 12 telecom telecom 5632 May 26 14:26 ./ drwxrwxr-x 24 root wheel 1024 May 26 01:02 ../ drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Mar 2 23:40 1981-86.volumes.1-5/ drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Mar 2 23:14 1987.volumes.6-7/ drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Mar 2 23:07 1988.volume.8/ drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Mar 2 22:54 1989.volume.9/ drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Mar 2 22:51 1990.volume.10/ drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 May 12 23:17 1991.volume.11/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 663 Jan 27 20:28 READ.ME.FIRST -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 25799 Sep 12 1990 abernathy.internet.story -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 68508 Mar 14 03:38 aos-new.fcc.proposals -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 68224 Nov 20 1990 aos-rules.procedures -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 60505 Feb 24 23:51 apple.data.pcs.petition -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 18238 Nov 9 1990 area.214-903.split -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 35017 Mar 2 21:24 areacode.guide -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9397 Mar 2 21:26 areacode.program.in.c -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 20826 Mar 3 00:09 areacode.script-c.moore -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 21264 Apr 14 1990 areacode.script-dupuy -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9078 Mar 2 21:29 areacode.script-revised -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 474 Feb 11 1990 att.service.outage.1-90 -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 18937 Aug 1 1989 auto.coin.collection -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 4788 Jun 10 1990 books.about.phones -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 21702 Nov 20 1990 braux.bill.call.blocking -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 10019 Jan 27 18:53 calendar.of.events.1991 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 61504 Jul 30 1990 caller-id-legal-decision -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 4569 Apr 14 21:03 caller-id-specs.bellcore -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 39449 Dec 14 21:20 cellular.carrier.codes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16188 Mar 14 03:22 cellular.fraud.abernathy -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2755 Mar 14 03:34 cellular.fraud.prevention -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 17016 Aug 5 1990 cellular.phones-iridium -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 24455 Feb 6 02:08 cellular.program-motorola -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 15141 Aug 1 1989 cellular.sieve -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 298 May 31 1990 cellular.west.germany -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16292 Mar 18 1990 class.ss7.features -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15023 Sep 30 1990 cocot-in-violation-label -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 38981 Oct 12 1990 cocot.complaint.sticker -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 70477 Sep 5 1990 computer.bbs.and.the.law -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 23944 Aug 1 1989 computer.state -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 9150 Jan 31 1990 country.code.list -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 11370 Feb 9 1990 country.codes.revised -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 11267 Feb 25 1990 cpid-ani.developments -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 436 Mar 16 16:54 deaf.communicate.on.tdd -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15877 Sep 1 1990 dial.tone.monopoly -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 28296 Sep 29 1990 dialup.access.in.uk -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 39319 Aug 1 1989 docket.87-215 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16367 Sep 1 1990 e-series.recommendations -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 3422 Jan 20 1990 early.digital.ESS -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 62602 Aug 1 1989 ecpa.1986 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 97987 Aug 4 1990 ecpa.1986.federal.laws -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 39956 Jul 14 1990 elec.frontier.foundation -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 5922 Feb 22 18:54 email.middle-east.troops -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 20660 Sep 5 1990 email.privacy -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8504 Jan 27 1990 enterprise-funny-numbers -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 19836 Nov 20 1990 fax.products.for.pc -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 33239 Aug 1 1989 fcc.policy -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 19378 Aug 1 1989 fcc.threat -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 484 Jan 14 1990 fcc.vrs.aos-ruling -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 9052 Aug 1 1989 find.pair -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 47203 Aug 1 1989 fire.in.chgo.5-88 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1998 Jan 27 1990 fire.in.st-louis.1-90 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 377 Jan 27 1990 fires.elsewhere.in.past -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1247 Feb 10 1990 first.issue.cover -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14105 Nov 24 1990 genie.star-service -rw-r--r-- 1 map telecom 102788 May 23 11:19 glossary.acronyms -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 43101 Jan 27 18:54 glossary.isdn.terms-kluge -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 42188 Jan 14 1990 glossary.phrack.acronyms -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 67113 Jan 14 1990 glossary.txt -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 68804 Feb 2 1990 hi.perf.computing.net -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2337 Jan 27 1990 history.of.digest -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 32625 Mar 29 1990 how.numbers.are.assigned -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15302 Jan 20 16:21 how.to.post.msgs.here -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1616 Nov 20 1990 index-canada.npa.files -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 411 Nov 20 1990 index-minitel.files -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 0 May 26 14:26 index-telecom.archives -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 1326 Jan 20 18:33 index-telecom.security -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 343 Jan 20 18:47 index-tymnet.info -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 936 Mar 3 00:06 intro.to.archives -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12896 Nov 20 1990 isdn.pc.adapter-hayes -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 4816 Aug 1 1989 lauren.song -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 801 Aug 1 1989 ldisc.txt -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 2271 Aug 1 1989 ldnotes.txt -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 13675 Aug 1 1989 ldrates.txt -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12260 Jan 20 1990 london.ac.script -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 12069 Mar 5 1990 london.codes.script -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15604 Aug 1 1989 mass.lines -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 463 Aug 1 1989 measured-service drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Nov 20 1990 minitel.info/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 36641 Aug 1 1989 mnp.protocol -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 2450 Jan 20 1990 modems.and.call-waiting -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 7597 Feb 10 1990 named.exchanges -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16590 Oct 21 1990 net.mail.guide -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 3014 Jan 27 1990 newuser.letter -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 32815 Mar 25 1990 nine.hundred.service -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 45105 Mar 2 22:14 npa.800-carriers.assigned -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 13779 Sep 19 1990 npa.800.prefixes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 45109 Mar 2 21:28 npa.800.revised -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 33440 May 12 1990 npa.809.prefixes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15488 Nov 20 1990 npa.900-carriers.assigned -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 15099 Mar 8 06:42 npa.900.how.assigned dr-xr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Feb 2 01:41 npa.exchange.list-canada/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 16534 Feb 11 1990 nsa.original.charter-1952 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9886 Jan 23 1990 occ.10xxx.access.codes -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 6847 Mar 2 21:28 occ.10xxx.list.updated -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8593 May 5 1990 occ.10xxx.notes.updates -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14354 Aug 12 1990 octothorpe.gets.its.name -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8504 Jan 27 1990 old.fashioned.coinphones -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 2756 Jan 27 1990 old.hello.msg -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 70153 Aug 1 1989 pc.pursuit -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 5492 Aug 1 1989 pearl.harbor.phones -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 38772 Aug 1 1989 pizza.auto.nmbr.id -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14189 May 6 02:39 radio-phone.interfere.1 -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 11696 May 6 02:40 radio-phone.interfere.2 -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 8452 May 6 02:40 radio-phone.interfere.3 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 17950 Jan 14 1990 rotenberg.privacy.speech -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9764 Jan 20 1990 starline.features -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 46738 Jan 18 1990 starlink.vrs.pcp -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 103069 Apr 26 1990 sysops.libel.liability -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 3857 Aug 1 1989 tat-8.fiber.optic -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 27533 Feb 9 1990 telco.name.list.formatted -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 31487 Jan 28 1990 telco.name.listing -rw-rw-r-- 1 ptownson telecom 827380 May 26 14:24 telecom-recent drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Mar 14 03:32 telecom.security.issues/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 21831 Jan 20 14:32 telsat-canada-report -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 11752 Aug 1 1989 telstar.txt drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 512 Dec 10 02:49 tymnet.information/ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 26614 May 29 1990 unitel-canada.ld.service -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 116 Oct 22 1990 white.pages -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 37947 Aug 1 1989 wire-it-yourself -rw-rw-r-- 1 telecom telecom 4101 Aug 1 1989 wiring.diagram -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 24541 Aug 1 1989 zum.debate And here is the sub-directory 'telecom.security.issues': total 608 drwxr-xr-x 2 ptownson telecom 1024 Dec 2 21:19 ./ drwxrwxr-x 6 telecom telecom 5120 Jan 20 18:30 ../ -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 13343 Feb 25 1990 computer.fraud.abuse.act -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 27395 Jun 23 1990 craig.neidorf.indictment -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 9354 Jul 30 02:18 craig.not.guilty -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 67190 Jun 23 1990 crime.and.puzzlement -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 62602 Aug 12 14:29 ecpa.1986 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 97987 Aug 12 14:32 ecpa.1986.federal.laws -rw-r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 21918 Dec 2 21:20 illinois.computer.laws -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 28935 May 19 1990 jolnet-2600.magazine.art -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 30751 Mar 7 1990 jolnet-attctc.crackers -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 43365 Jan 28 1990 kevin.polsen -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 35612 Apr 1 1990 legion.of.doom -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 20703 Aug 12 16:16 len.rose.indictment -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 67099 Nov 4 01:11 telecom.usa.call.block-1 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 31995 Nov 20 10:34 telecom.usa.call.block-2 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 10833 Nov 20 10:23 telecom.usa.call.block-3 -r--r--r-- 1 ptownson telecom 14821 Sep 12 19:19 war.on.computer.crime People using Doug's new service will probably find the same file names as above in the index there ... but use his index to check exact spellings and any little differences there may be. Have fun! Do catch up on back issues you have missed as well as any special files you may have not seen before .... and remember to check Doug's index regularly since it will be getting larger as he gets his files completely on line. And why not send a note of thanks to Doug also, for his work over the holiday weekend in getting this up and running for telecom readers. From all of us Doug, thanks! Patrick Townson TELECOM Moderator   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa08487; 30 May 91 5:33 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa03104; 30 May 91 3:54 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa08019; 30 May 91 2:31 CDT Date: Thu, 30 May 91 1:31:20 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #408 BCC: Message-ID: <9105300131.ab30103@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Thu, 30 May 91 01:30:55 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 408 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson John Higdon on KFI in Los Angeles [Steve W. York] Rebecca Bigeley and Thrifty Tel [John Higdon] Incoming lines from Telco [Robert M. Hamer] AT&T Long Distance Employee Concession [Edward Hopper] Caller ID Blocking Advertised [Tim Irvin] Fax Memory [Kath Mullholand] The Definitive ANAC Guide [Leryo Malbito] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Steve_W_York@cup.portal.com Subject: John Higdon on KFI in Los Angeles Date: Tue, 28 May 91 23:42:14 PDT [MODERATOR'S NOTE: LATE BULLETIN! THE REPEAT OF THE SHOW SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY AT 3 AM PACIFIC TIME HAS BEEN PRE-EMPTED DUE TO THE NEW ARREST OF RODNEY KING. JOHN HIGDON ADVISED ME BY PHONE WEDNESDAY NIGHT THE SHOW IS NOW RESCHEDULED FOR AT 3 AM P.S.T. PAT] When I read a few days ago that John Higdon was going to be on KFI in Los Angeles on Tuesday, it piqued my interest. I do a a show on KFI. So why not meet the scrouge of net. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Anyway, I called the show's producer and got his answering machine (twice). Left a message on the second call, and drove over to the studio. During the drive, I wondered how I would know who he was. I shouldn't have worried. I put my ID card in the reader to open the front door and went in and waved at the guard. Then up a flight of steps and waved at the receptionist who buzzed me through the next door. Then up another flight of stairs to the studios. I looked down the hall and saw the light on in the producer's office and figured that was a good place to start. I never got there. As I was walking, I glanced down a side utility hall. There, between two bathrooms was a man sitting on the floor, hunched over a milk crate. There was a laptop on the milkcrate and a wire running across the floor into an old frame room full of abandoned 66 punch blocks and 1A2 equipment. This obviously was HIGDON. He ignored me as I walked over to introduce myself. Eventually, he signed off and we met. Not exactly like meeting a prophet. But I wouldn't know what that's like anyway. His show went well, though one caller reffered to him as an idiot. That was his favorite call, at least he kept talking about it later. I'll let him tell you about the show. Afterwards, John, Joe, Tony, and I amused each other for a few hours telling and enjoying stories. For anyone who wants to hear the show, it will be repeated Thursday at 3AM. KFI is 640 AM, 50,000 watts clear channel. Should be audible by at least the Western third of the country. Fire up the cassette deck and get a copy for your kids. Steve York ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 15:49 PDT From: John Higdon Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Rebecca Bigeley and Thrifty Tel The best way to describe Thrifty Tel is that it is a struggling reseller. The best way to describe Rebecca Bigeley is that she is a woman with a cause and a gigantic ego. Yesterday's experience talking with her was, at best, confusing. Her company is an attractive hacker nuisance. It has no ANI delivery on the 950 access, it has short authorization codes, etc. The emphasis is on "catching" the phreaks rather than stopping them. I asked her point blank off the air if she would be happy if all phreaking activity stopped tomorrow and her answer was in effect, "we want to send a message to these criminals." Her excuse for using FGB (with no FGD turnaround) was that it would cost her (and by extension her customers) money for upgrading. "Why should my customers pay for what these criminals are doing? The 'hackers' themselves (or their parents) should bear the cost." Just before a break, I pointed out that FGB was obsolete in any case and that FGD would provide additional protections against hacking. On the air, she kept insisting that this would not be the case and even at one point accused me of not knowing enough about the technical matters. During one of the breaks, the producer of the show asked that we keep the "jargon" to a minimum. Ms. Bigeley responded, "These guys are technicians -- that's just the way they talk. I, on the other hand, understand that this is not a technical matter, but a moral and ethical one." I have to hand it to her -- she is no dummy. She played her part very well. Those who heard the show will note that after all of her insistence that FGD would not help her and that FGB was perfectly reasonable for her company to use, despite its hacker invitations; she did not challenge my rather pointed pre-break condemnation of FGB. Maybe I am giving her more credit than she deserves, but I suspect that she knew what my next statement would have been if pressed on the issue. The only reason resellers cling to FGB technology, phreaker holes and all, is to allow intraLATA bypass in violation of tariff. Thrifty Tel does this as does a large number of other providers. Everyone in the business knows this. When I explained (off mike) that FGD presubscription with no casual calling (or even with it) would end her phreaker problems, her answer was the issue of "cost -- to her and her customers". This is the tone she maintained throughout. There were some strange callers. One suggested that all information everywhere should be free for the asking (taking). His (unsupportable) justification for hacking and phreaking illegally was somewhat off the wall. Another gentleman, who described himself as a "security systems" designer referred to my associate and myself as "idiots" because we were suggesting that Thrifty Tel might pay more attention to locking the door rather than running after the thieves. "There is nothing that is completely secure." Maybe not, but at a certain point most phreaks will give up on something that is not worth the effort. I asked him if he would put a computer on a phone line open to the world without a password. "Of course not, but that has nothing to do with it." One caller even brought up the (now discredited) flap about Prodigy as a platform to declare that all corporations were evil and that they should all be ripped off. Unfortunately, I think those at the station got more out of this in our post-mortem afterwards than came across on the air. We summed up at the end of the broadcast with the same words meaning different things. I suggested that lawmakers and the public needed to become better informed in the matters of computers and telecommunications technology so that the mystique that drives irrational prosecutions of people could be brought under control. Ms. Bigeley also advocated more education. More education of law enforcement personel so that they would be fired up to go after these "thugs and criminals" that are ripping off honest little businesses such as hers, and by extension, her customers. Her moral crusade tone created an atmosphere that caused any reason to be introduced into the discussion to appear as being "soft on criminal activity". To her it was very simple: if these people don't want their lives ruined then they should not tamper with her (very vulnerable) system. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! [Moderator's Note: Remember, the re-broadcast will be , 3 AM due to pre-emption because of Rodney King's latest arrest. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 08:44 EDT From: "Robert M. Hamer" Subject: Incoming Lines From Telco Last Thursday my wife and I closed on a townhouse in Princeton, NJ. We moved in last Friday, although I'm back here in humid Virginia until the end of June. I inspected the phone connections and discovered the following: I can't find a network interface. Coming in from outside into the basement is a line with what looks like perhaps 10 or 15 twisted pairs. One of the pairs is connected to one of the old-fashioned terminals (with four screw-type poles) to which all of our in-house wiring is connected. (The inhouse wiring is a combination of what looks like standard quad phone wire and what looks like three-pair or four-pair twisted pair. Only one pair is in use. Red/green on the quad for tap/ring. Go figure.) I have an uncomfortable suspician that all these pairs coming into the basement go to other people's phone lines, and that in their basements, my pair is included among those terminated in their basements. I have heard of such arrangements for apartments, but would they have done it for townhouses? (There are about eight units in our building.) If that is indeed true, is there any way I might persuade the local telco to make some other arrangement so that my pairs aren't available for others to tap into; to make phone calls on, etc? ------------------------------ From: ehopper@attmail.com Date: Wed May 29 09:41:23 CDT 1991 Subject: AT&T Long Distance Employee Concession At present, full time management employees (at least lower ranking management employees like me) have the following deal on AT&T long distance within the USA: First $35.00 per month of calls - 100% discount (i.e., free). Next $65.00 worth of calls - 50% discount. Non-management employees do not get such a good deal. I recall something like $5 free and and 50% off on the next $25 or $35. Back in the old Bell days, the late Mountain Bell gave me free local service, free features (custom calling, touch tone) plus a smaller long distance discount ($15 free). This process is known internally as a "concession". "Concession" billing was also used by the BOCs for "offical" (i.e., internal) service. I remember pulling up the service records and bill on the Mountain Bell Centrex in El Paso, TX (before the barbarians at SW Bell took over). The bill was $0.00. This was for a three thousand line switch with massive amounts of 1A2 key equipment. In addition, by producing a valid ID badge at a phone center store one gets the "employee price" for telephone sets, answering machines, etc. Last week for example, I bought one of the digital answering machines for under $100. Regular price is $139.99. Sometimes sale prices at department/electronics stores on AT&T merchandise is better than this discount, sometimes not. Finally, various computers have been offered for sale. Sometimes these are good deals, sometimes not. The last deal was on a 6386/SX although I do not recall prices. Ed Hopper AT&T Computer Systems (for now) ------------------------------ Subject: Caller ID Blocking Advertised Reply-To: irvin@northstar.dartmouth.edu Date: Wed, 29 May 91 13:18:04 +22322638 From: irvin@northstar105.dartmouth.edu The following 1/4 page ad appeared yesterday, May 28, 1991, in the {Valley News}, (Lebanon, NH-White River Junction, VT, and surrounding area): +-----------------+ White River Junction Area Customers +------------------+ | | | | | I m p o r t a n t | | n o t i c e | | a b o u t C a l l e r I D | | B l o c k i n g. | | [note: This part took up 1/2 the ad. Large, bold letters] | | | | New England Telephone is offering response to this concern, New England | | White River Junction Area customers Telephone is now offering Per-Call | | a new generation of call management Blocking, a free method of "blocking" | | services. These new services are the transmission of your telephone | | call Phonesmart(SM) and are designed number to the Caller ID unit. | | to offer you increased convenience, {How to use Per-Call Blocking}. Since| | control and security. your line is already equipped for Per-| | One of the new Phonesmart services Call Blocking, all you have to do is | | is Caller ID. Caller ID enables a dial 1176 on a rotary phone or push | | subscriber to see the telephone num- *67 on a Touch-Tone phone equipped with | ber of a caller before picking up Touch-Tone service before dialing the | | the phone. When a phone call comes call you want blocked. | | in, the caller's telephone number If you have further questions or | | shows up on a small display device require assistance, just call your Ser- | connected to the subscriber's phone. vice Representative at the telephone | | However, in certain instances, some number listed on the New England | | people don't want their number iden- Telephone Itemization of Account | | tified by the person they're page of your bill. | | calling. In | | | | [The next lines were in {very} small print] | | These are services (products) whose prices are not regulated. Comparable | | services may be available in a more fully regulated form. [yea right, from| | whom?] Ask your local business office for a comparison with those | | services, and then decide whether you prefer these service offerings. | | | | {BELL LOGO} N e w E n g l a n d T e l e p h o n e | | A NYNEX Company | | | Note: All [] comments, and misspellings are mine. The formatting is a close as possible given a mono-spaced font. I wonder what these comparable services are.... I like how "In response to this concern, NET in now offering PCB....", makes them seem so understanding to customers' privacy concerns, when I am sure they must of fought tooth-and-nail to keep Blocking out all together. Tim Irvin ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 1991 14:28:38 EDT From: KATH MULLHOLAND Subject: Fax Memory Has anyone out there heard of a fax machine with partitioned memory? What is needed is for callers calling in to dial the seven-digit fax number, followed by an eighth digit that identifies a "mailbox" which then stores the fax until the fax owner goes to the fax machine and asks for all of the faxes stored in mailbox 'x'. I can see how this could be done with multiple faxes each with its own (huge) memory, but what they are looking for is a single machine that will do this. Storage needs are upwards of 100 pages of closely typed copy. Please reply directly to me -- k_mullholand@unhh.unh.edu -- and I will summarize the answers for the Digest. Kath Mullholand Durham, NH ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 16:38:24 -0400 From: Leryo Malbito Subject: The Definitive ANAC Guide "The Definitive ANAC Guide" (Compiled by Emmanuel Goldstein, so all credit goes to him. Typed in by me, all typos mine.) If it doesn't work, try prefacing it with a 1. It still might not work, as this is a somewhat old list (Summer 90), so please let me know (NOT Pat!) whether they all work or not. Some of them seem doubtful, as I would try the ones with nnx 970 frm payphones ... wouldn't want any of you to get burned ... and also the ones that are 211 seem somewhat questionable also, as (in 212) that is the Credit Operator. Any that DO work will work from anywhere for free, payphones, etc. I am assuming (I think correctly) that xxx.xxxx means any string of seven digits, and you all can get back to me on that too. experiment! 205 908.222.2222 212 958 213 114 213 1223 213 61056 214 970.xxxx 215 410.xxxx 217 200.xxx.xxxx 217 290 305 200.222.2222 309 200.xxx.xxxx 309 290 312 1.200.5863 312 200.xxx.xxxx 312 290 313 200.222.2222 317 310.222.2222 317 743.1218 401 222.2222 403 908.222.2222 404 940.xxx.xxxx 407 200.222.2222 408 300.xxx.xxxx 408 760 409 970.xxxx 414 330.2234 415 200.555.1212 415 211.2111 415 2222 415 640 415 760 415 760.2878 415 7600 415 7600.2222 502 997.555.1212 509 560 512 200.222.2222 512 970.xxxx 516 968 517 200.222.2222 518 997 518 998 602 593.0809 602 593.6017 602 593.7451 604 1116 604 1211 604 211 612 511 615 830 616 200.222.2222 617 200.xxx.xxxx 617 220.2622 618 200.xxx.xxxx 713 970.xxxx 714 211.2121 716 511 718 958 806 970.xxxx 812 410.555.1212 815 200.xxx.xxxx 815 290 817 211 906 200.222.2222 914 1.990.1111 914 99 914 990 914 990.1111 915 970.xxxx 919 711 [Moderator's Note: I just now tried the one for 312, and it did not work. Maybe others will have luck with theirs. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #408 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa10450; 30 May 91 7:02 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa21143; 30 May 91 5:12 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab03104; 30 May 91 3:55 CDT Date: Thu, 30 May 91 3:08:09 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #409 BCC: Message-ID: <9105300308.ab29453@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Thu, 30 May 91 03:07:24 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 409 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [Neil Rickert] Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [S. M. Krieger] Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [Henry Mensch] Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [Bud Couch] Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [Steve Gaarder] Re: Some Comments on History of AIOD [Macy Hallock] Re: DTMF Decoder Chip Wanted [Patton M. Turner] Re: Are Telco Profits Too Large? [Bryan Montgomery] Re: Are Telco Profits Too Large? [Martin Baines] Re: A Visitor Observes Phone Service in the UK [Martin Baines] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Neil Rickert Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Organization: Northern Illinois University Date: Wed, 29 May 1991 12:13:44 GMT In article DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu (Douglas Scott Reuben) writes: > I just got this in the mail from AT&T: > In a few weeks, you will be receiving a new AT&T Calling Card to > replace the AT&T Calling Card you now carry. > When it arrives, you'll notice that your new card looks different. It > even has a DIFFERENT ACCOUNT NUMBER FROM YOUR CURRENT AT&T CARD. > (Emphasis added). In order to comply with government requirements, > AT&T is no longer sharing card numbers with your local telephone > company. Now, AT&T is issuing new card numbers that are exclusive to > AT&T. This sounds like a good move to me. Time to describe a personal experience. This happened perhaps seven years ago. A calling card (along with other cards, etc) were stolen. We notified AT&T who promptly issued a new card. A few weeks later when we had need to use the AT&T card, it didn't work. After much complaining, the explanation turned out to be that our original card had been issued by means of a request to Illinois Bell. The replacement was issued by AT&T. But because the original was ordered through Illinois Bell, it could only be cancelled by Illinois Bell. AT&T didn't think to do this when they issued the replacement. We didn't think to do so either, since the card said AT&T. I consider the separation a distinct improvement which can only serve to reduce this kind of confusion in the future. Note, that since the AT&T notice promises the same service, one presumes that local calls anywhere in the country should still be chargeable to the AT&T card. Neil W. Rickert, Computer Science Northern Illinois Univ. DeKalb, IL 60115 +1-815-753-6940 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 10:39:03 EDT From: S M Krieger Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Organization: Summit NJ Douglas Scott Reuben writes: > I just got this in the mail from AT&T: > In a few weeks, you will be receiving a new AT&T Calling Card to > replace the AT&T Calling Card you now carry. > When it arrives, you'll notice that your new card looks different. It > even has a DIFFERENT ACCOUNT NUMBER FROM YOUR CURRENT AT&T CARD. > So does this mean that we will all need to know at least *two* PIN > numbers now? I already have my new AT&T Calling Card. Here is my understanding of it (DISCLAIMER: based entirely on the literature I got about it). It is more than a new PIN; it's a 14 digit number totally unrelated to the phone number. This number will be accepted by the local phone companies for intra-LATA calls, but it will not be accepted by other long distance carriers. (I believe the Calling Card number on the Universal Card works the same way.) This new calling card number (although I haven't tried it yet) will also be linked to the Reach Out America plan (which in my case, I pay $2.00 a month extra for no surcharge on Calling Card calls after 10:00pm and all day Saturday and Sunday until 5:00pm). From other literature I got (as well as phone call I made to AT&T confirming it), the new AT&T Calling Cards would not be sent to Universal Card holders, as they (we?) already have an AT&T Calling Card Card number. But Universal Card holders who are also Reach Out America customers (like me) can request the AT&T Calling Card so that an AT&T Calling Card number can be linked to the home phone number (the Universal Card number can't) for ROA discounts. Stan Krieger All opinions, advice, or suggestions, even AT&T UNIX System Laboratories if related to my employment, are my own and Summit, NJ do not represent any public or private att!attunix!smk policies of my employer. ------------------------------ From: Henry Mensch Date: Wed, 29 May 91 11:24:37 -0700 Subject: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Reply-To: henry@ads.com > [Moderator's Note: Did they specifically say you could NOT make local > calls on the card or would NOT be able to use the local telco's card > to make calls on the AT&T network? PAT] Hmm ... I just got a new Pac*Bell calling card and a new-style AT&T calling card ... the Pac*Bell card accompanying literature emphatically states that I can use my Pac*Bell card to make "long distance" (presumably out-of-state) calls and it should be good "almost anywhere." I'm not sure I want to test it that vigorously, tho. Henry Mensch / Advanced Decision Systems / ------------------------------ From: Bud Couch Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World Organization: Kentrox Industries, Inc. Date: Wed, 29 May 1991 03:49:32 GMT In a recent post, our illustrious Moderator wrote: > [Moderator's Note: I don't know if you meant it the way it came out, > but the telephone instrument has *nothing* to do with the ring you > hear as the caller. What you heard must have been some kind of fluke; > some temporary switch problem. PAT] Most C.O. switches built in the last ten years *deliberately* divorce the ringback tone heard by the calling party from the acrual ringing sound at the called party's phone. This has been done to cut down on revenue "leakage" due to ringing code schemes: "Well, when we get to Aunt Gertie's house, we'll call and leave it ring three times." Modern switches, in general, return ringback both slower and asynchronously from the actual ringing in order to foul up those schemes. "Why did you answer? It only rang twice." "Twice? It started on the fourth ring here!" Bud Couch - ADC/Kentrox If my employer only knew standard BS applies ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 02:16:02 EDT From: gaarder@anarres.ithaca.ny.us Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World Until about five or so years ago, a large, probably crossbar New England Tel office in Newton, Mass. (617-964) had a double ring as the normal cadence. This was the sound of both the actual ringer and of the ringback. The first time I called a friend there after they replaced the switch I heard a standard ringback and hung up, thinking I'd misdialed. Steve Gaarder gaarder@theory.tc.cornell.edu gaarder@anarres.ithaca.ny.us ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 91 21:12 EDT From: Macy Hallock Subject: Re: Some Comments on History of AIOD Organization: Hallock Engineering and Sales Medina, Ohio USA +1 216 722 3053 > When I was in the interconnect business, selling Mitel SX-200 PBX > equipment, I used to notice references to AIOD in the documentation > for that product. The Mitel SX-200 and SX-100 and SX-2000 have AIOD capability. This is still available, but nobody uses it ... it's basically an obsolete protocol. It was included in the products because telcos wouldn't buy a PBX that could not support AIOD. It was used mainly for Centrex CU type services. I'm told there are some telcos with an AIOD tarriff still on the books. Not so here. Most of the modern CO's are the same way ... they can do AIOD due to telco specs, but never install or implement the feature. Macy M. Hallock, Jr. N8OBG 216-725-4764 Home macy@fmsystm.UUCP macy@NCoast.ORG Note: macy@ncoast.org is best reply path to me. uunet!aablue!fmsystm!macy [No disclaimer, but I have no real idea what I'm saying or why I'm telling you] ----------------------------- Date: Wed, 29 May 91 00:35:49 CDT From: "Patton M. Turner" Subject: Re: DTMF Decoder Chip Wanted > Does anyone know where to buy an inexpensive DTMF decoder chip? > Preferable with easy interfacing capabilities. I want to build one of > those turn-on-anything-from-anywhere gizmos. Thanks.... I don't know of a single chip implementation of a DTMF decoder. Since nobody seemed to come up with anything, I will give you my solution: eight tone decoders in parallel (ECG part# 832). Each decoder handles a separate frequency, and the outputs are combined with NAND gates to obtain the number. The ECG tech manual includes an example of this implementation. If you can't obtain a copy of the data sheet on this chip, let me know and I can mail you a copy. Hope this helps. Pat Turner KB4GRZ pturner@eng.auburn.edu ----------------------------- Date: Wed, 29 May 91 14:56:11 BST From: bmontgom@hvtvm4.vnet.ibm.com Subject: Re: Are Telco Profits Too Large? Hello again, Someone is awake and noticed my mistake. I should have said 3000 million, well 3050 million (97/sec) pounds! Approximately 5500 million US Dollars per annum. Incidentally the title had been 'moderated from profits ... to excessive profits -- and I agree! BTW I hadn't realised the difference in 'billion' but million means 1,000,000! Thanks for pointing it out. You learn something every day! As far as it being excessive, isn't that why 'Ma Bell' was split up and de-regulation etc? Currently there is one other choice for non-local (incidentally ALL calls are timed), Mercury, they complain (justifiably?) that BT charge too much for local links. Hopefully with the governments new legislation there will be possibilities for change with British Rail, Water Boards (canals), as LD carriers but all still relying on BT for local links. Perhaps if we get modern technology like cable there will be opurtunities for other 'local' links. I'd be interested to hear any comments from others with experience of BT, et al. For all the moans and groans of the US system, it still seems to be light years ahead of ours, from my limited experience anyway. Does this make matters better (or worse?) Cheers, Bryan M. ------------------------------ From: Martin Baines Subject: Re: Are Telco Profits Too Large? Date: 29 May 91 10:00:02 GMT Reply-To: Martin.Baines@uk.sun.com Organization: Sun Microsystems Ltd In article , motcid!ashbya@uunet.uu.net (Adam J. Ashby) writes: > In article , bmontgom@hvtvm4.vnet.ibm. > com writes: >> Food for thought: British Telecom announced yesterday profits of 95 >> pounds a second ie annual profits of 3000 billion pounds ... leading >> to comments from competitors that BT charges too much for use of its >> local lines. I don't know how this compares to US telecom operators, >> but I think it could be described as somewhat excessive. > A couple of points to mention here ... > 1) I somewhat doubt the validity of your figures - especially as I > remember not long ago everyone was aghast at BT making one million > pounds a day - or one third of one billion pounds. You may doubt them, but they are true! Mind you (according to BT adverts) they reinvest #88 per minute of that. > 2) Is that a 'British' billion (1x10E12) or an 'American' billion > (1x10E9)?? Unfortunately for the English language, since Nigel Lawson started using the American Billion for reporting the budget in the early '80s the American Billion has taken over here when refering to money. A sad day: what was wrong with the (correct) term milliad? > 3) Describing it as excessive is very subjective - it wouldn't seem so > excessive if you were a shareholder, would it?? As a share holder I quite agree. Unfortuanately there are still some solicalist mined individuals in the UK who believe all profit is evil and privatisation was the work of the devil! Of course these are the same people no doubt who would like to go back to the '70s when the old GPO took 18 months to install my parents phone line *and* succeeded in lossing money on a monopoly service and hence needed tax money (top rate 98% !!!) to make up the difference. "You might say that, but I couldn't possibly comment" Martin Baines, Sales Support Manager, Sun Microsystems Ltd, 306 Science Park, Cambridge, CB4 4WG, UK Phone Email UK: 0223 420421 JANET: Martin.Baines@uk.co.sun International: +44 223 420421 Other UK: Martin.Baines@sun.co.uk Internet: Martin.Baines@UK.sun.com ------------------------------ From: Martin Baines Subject: Re: A Visitor Observes Phone Service in the UK Date: 29 May 91 10:25:20 GMT Reply-To: Martin.Baines@uk.sun.com Organization: Sun Microsystems Ltd In article , alexb@cfctech.cfc.com (Alex Beylin) writes: [preabmle and questions re red phone boxes deleted] > Also while I was there, BT released their profit statements and all > hell broke loose in the papers. The common opinion seems to be that > BT makes more money then they should. See my prior posting today! > On the home front, majority of people I met still have BT as their one > and only carrier. One of my friends just added Mercury to his > business phone and observed 35+% drop in LD charges. He had to > replace all his phones as the standard BT phone was not compatible > with Mercury (no tones?). His current phone is made by Southern Bell. > He has to dial an access number to get to the Mercury network. Depends where you live and when you got your phone as to whether it is Mercury compatible. If you live in an exchange that is digital (50% of exchanges, 75% of the population) then all you need to get Mercury is a tone phone. If you get a *new* phone from BT it may/may not be tone: it seems to depend what they have in stock (any comments?). If you live on a pulse exchange, to get Mercury you need a phone that can change from pulse to tone in the middle of dialing: the pulses to get to Mercury, then tones for your PIN and the number. A number of commercially sold phones have a "Mercury" button: this basically dials Mercury for you and (depending on model) may dial the PIN as well. This is just a convienience but often not understood by phone salesmen. > The state of pay phone confusion is unbelivable. BT phone cards are > widely available but work only in BT phones. Mercury phone cards are > also available, but work only in Mercury phones. In London most BT > and Mercury pay phones will not accept coins - I was forced to carry > both cards. Some BT phones do accept coins and even give change, > contrary to the sign on the phone. The signs on BT phones say that they only give change out of the coins you put in, not that they don't give change. E.g. If I put in a single #1 coin and only make a 10p call, I get no change; but if I put in 10 * 10p coins and make the same call, I get 90p back. As for PhoneCard verses coin availability: depends where you are. In most cases I can think of, BT usually puts at least one coin phone in every cluster of phones. I cannot think of *any* coin operated Mercury phone (although I am told they exist!), all the ones I have come across take MercuryCards (tm) *and* credit cards. I would love to see a common standard for pre-paid cards, but I would hate to be the person who worked out how to cross charge between phone companies for their use. An exercise for Oftel in their spare time perhaps? |> None of the home phones I used (8-10) had tone dialing - pulse only. This is basically customer lazyness: most people don't know the difference so don't bother to get tones. You can walk into any store selling phones these days and get a tone phone for same price as a pulse phone. There is no added charge from BT for using tones. If you live in an area that Mercury can do direct connect (lucky you!) tones are mandatory. "You might say that, but I couldn't possibly comment" Martin Baines, Sales Support Manager, Sun Microsystems Ltd, 306 Science Park, Cambridge, CB4 4WG, UK Phone Email UK: 0223 420421 JANET: Martin.Baines@uk.co.sun International: +44 223 420421 Other UK: Martin.Baines@sun.co.uk Internet: Martin.Baines@UK.sun.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #409 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa28708; 31 May 91 3:48 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa20431; 31 May 91 2:13 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa11357; 31 May 91 1:03 CDT Date: Fri, 31 May 91 0:32:08 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #410 BCC: Message-ID: <9105310032.ab16333@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Fri, 31 May 91 00:31:56 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 410 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Talking Books For the Blind [Martin McCormick] Re: Did Western Electric Also Make Sound Recordings? [Bill Vermillion] Re: Did Western Electric Also Produce Sound Recordings? [George Horwath] Re: AT&T's Cornet [William T. Sykes] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 29 May 91 14:48:58 CST From: mmccorm@d.cs.okstate.edu Subject: Talking Books For the Blind Part I In the discussion of Western Electric sound recordings, the subject of Talking Books for the blind was mentioned. Having been a user of the service for almost 35 years and having worked at the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in one of my past lives, I would like to describe the details of how the system worked and how it works now. The Talking Book is administered by the Library of Congress. It began in 1939 and, even then, was quite innovative. The Talking Book records were 12-inch platters recorded at 33-and-1/3 RPM in the micro-groove format, just like modern albums. In the late 50's, the Library of Congress, ever interested in data compression, switched from 33-and-1/3 to 16-and-2/3RPM records. The voice quality of these disks was still excellent, but it only took half as many disks for any given Talking Book. The 1960's were a time of great technological change for Talking Books, just like many other things. The speed of the disks dropped to 8-and-1/3RPM where it is today, and the Library of Congress began using the new audio cassette tape format for some Talking Book issues. The disks, themselves, also underwent quite a slimming process from those first 33-and-1/3 RPM albums. Some time after the introduction of 16-and-2/3 RPM disks, the 12-inch diameter was changed to a 10-inch size. Also, in the late 60's, the Library of Congress introduced flexible disks. Most of you have seen these limber records as supplements to magazines and other such freebees. The first ones were, as I recall, terrible because the turntables of the 50's and 60's Talking Book players were covered with mats that didn't adequately support the flexible disks. Also, both shippers and users of the flexible disks had to get used to the fact that they weren't as forgiving of high heat, heavy feet, etc as rigid phonograph records. Today, the flexible disks are 8-inch black disks which at 8-and-1/3 RPM have about one hour of playing time per side. Since it is still cheaper to press large quantities of flexible disks than to produce a large quantity of tapes, the disks are still used for materials such as best-seller books and widely read magazines. Material with a more limited circulation such as specialty magazines are recorded on audio cassettes; I'll say more on this later. Some magazines, such as {Newsweek} are recorded on both formats. As the flexible disk and tape formats have matured, there have been some nifty innovations to make the materials easier to use. There is an audible system for indexing chapter headings or the beginnings of magazine articles which though very simple in concept, is pure genius. A low tone of about 50 to 100HZ is recorded for a second or two along with the reader's voice at the beginning of the important section. It is much like the 50 HZ slide synchronization tones used to trip the advance mechanism on 35MM film strip projectors. Under normal conditions, you don't hear the tone but if the disk or tape is played at several times the speed, the tone will be heard as a beep. This system works really well on tape-recorded material. For special reference materials such as cookbooks and dictionaries, there is a really neat system called Voice Indexing. It is done by superimposing a word or two onto a prerecorded tape at a much higher speed than the original recording. During fast-forward, the normal speech sounds like monkey chatter. The page or chapter index tones sound like occasional beeps, and the voice indexing information sound like a normal human voice telling you the name of the next section. When a Voice Indexed recording is played at normal speed, the Voice Index creates a sound like rolling thunder in the background. Those who look for hidden Satanic messages in rock music would have a field day with this technology, but I digress. Finally, while the cassette tapes used in the Talking Book program are the exact same tapes and cartridges used the world over for sound recordings, these days they would not be at home in a standard stereo or mono tape player. Just as with the disks, the Library of Congress has tried to fit more and more information into a smaller space. The early 70's saw a change from 1-and-7/8 ips tape speed to 15/16 ips speed. This is half the speed used for an ordinary cassette tape recording. The next big increase in efficiency occurred in the mid 70's when the four-track cassette was introduced. Today's Library of Congress Talking Books are recorded on either 8-inch flexible disks or 15/16 ips four-track cassettes. The Talking Book disk player, called a Talking Book Machine, looks like an average sized classroom phonograph. The lid can be removed so as to set the speaker somewhere else, but it usually works fine right on the machine. The controls are very basic and utilitarian, namely power, speed, volume and tone. They are marked in both raised large print and Braille. The tape players, about the dimensions of a large book, have a speed selector so as to be able to play 15/16 ips tapes or the normal 1-and-7/8 ips speeds. Their transport mechanisms have controls which would be familiar to anybody who has ever seen a cassette tape recorder. The buttons are molded with large raised international symbols such as < for rewind and > for fast-forward. In the second part, I will talk more about the Talking Books, themselves and what it is like to use them. Part II The Talking Book program of the Library of Congress is one of those government programs which works. It has, over the past 52 years grown and matured technologically, but it still performs it's original function of bringing otherwise inaccessible materials to people who are blind or otherwise physically handicapped so as not to be able to read a printed book. The Library of Congress distributes Talking Books and players to a network of regional distribution libraries in all 50 states. Any American citizen who is legally defined as blind or print handicapped can borrow a Talking Book disk player and a special four-track tape player free of charge. The actual Talking Book records and tapes are also loaned free of charge. A patron of the service need only ask his or her regional lending library for a certain title and it is sent if available. Every couple of months, the Talking Books Publishing division of the Library of Congress distributes a catalog of the latest new books they have put on disk or tape. They also give listings of recorded materials which are produced by private organizations. While not all of these privately produced materials are free, they provide another source of recorded information. Talking Book disk players and tape machines break, from time to time and their repair is free to the user. In many parts of the country, the Telephone Pioneers, an organization of AT&T employees, donates their time and technical expertise to repairing these machines. While I really know very little about the Telephone Pioneers, their handiwork is always very impressive and should qualify for a few articles in comp.dcom.telecom. The quality of the production of Talking Books is purely professional. The readers are actors, actresses, and even radio and television announcers. They are often paid for their work, but sometimes donate their time. Full-length books are recorded with scrupulous adherence to accuracy. Weekly magazines such as "Newsweek," and "U.S. News and World Report," are produced in recording marathons in which the content of the magazine is split up among several readers and then edited into one recording. Again, every effort is made to insure that the readers are accurate. A few of the books such as Alistair Cooke's book about the founding of the United States are actually read by their authors. Since virtually all of the books which are turned into Talking Books are copywrited, the Library of Congress or any other organization which wants to transcribe a book onto an audio tape must get permission from the publisher. Such permission is usually granted as long as the information in the book or article is not modified in any way. What kinds of books are on Talking Book? The selection committee at the Library of Congress uses the "New York Times Best Seller List" as one of the criteria for deciding which books to transcribe. The list of recorded Talking Book titles is a cross-section of the kinds of books that all Americans read. The Talking Book program and the support provided by such groups as the Telephone Pioneers is a good example of human ingenuity and good intentions forming a truly useful service. Martin McCormick Amateur Radio WB5AGZ Oklahoma State University Computer Center Data Communications Group Stillwater, OK ------------------------------ From: Bill Vermillion Subject: Re: Did Western Electric Also Make Sound Recordings? Organization: W. J. Vermillion - Winter Park, FL Date: Wed, 29 May 91 03:01:49 GMT In article 0004133373@mcimail.com (Donald E. Kimberlin) writes: > He says that by 1933, "... the record business in America was > practically extinct," referring to almost 70 years of virtually no > development beyond Edison's basic acoustic methods. Apparently, the > record industry had not of its own accord adopted any of the advances > that electronics could bring. Even so, my 1928 reference book shows a > phono pickup and states that, "Modern electric phonographs, usually > combination phonograph and radio broadcast receiver ..." Some of the companies made the changeover to electric, but the budget companies stuck with accoustic, as there were no royalties to pay, and therefore they could get to market cheaper. > So, while it might seem that the Great Depression was sounding a > death knell for the record business, "The Movies" were coming on > strong. The other thing that was killing records, in conjunction with the great depression, was that new-fangled toy, radio. In the 1927-1929 era there were three records that were million sellers. My Blue Heaven - Gene Austin, Prisoners Song - Vernon Dahlhard, and I forgot the third one. Then in the depression era a good selling record was 50,000 copies. Next million seller didn't come along until 1942, Elton Britt - THere's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere. The first patriotic hit of that era. A good reference book for record industry is "From Tin Foil To Stereo - The Evolution of the Phonograph" by Read and Welch. The first edition was printed in 1959. I have the second edition printed in 1976. Highly recommended if you can find one anywhere. It was published by Sams. Bill Vermillion - UUCP: ...!tarpit!bilver!bill : bill@bilver.UUCP ------------------------------ From: George Horwath Subject: Re: Did Western Electric Also Produce Sound Recordings? Date: 29 May 91 12:56:41 GMT Reply-To: motcid!uunet.uu.net!motcid!horwath@uunet.uu.net Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Div., Arlington Hgts, IL > But of more interest to me now was Western Electric's involvement in > phonograph records. It must have been very minimal and limited to the > early days of sound recordings. ^^^^^^^^^^ > Going through my *very old* (1948-49) phonograph records and tapes I ^^^^^^^^^^ Pat, I think we have a slight perspective problem here on the time line as far as the history of phonograph records goes. I've got some in my collection that date back to 1920 and I thought they were NOT that old since they were pressed with recordings on *both* sides. :) Yes, I do have a CD player!! :) The following is what I recall after having looked into the history of records about fifteen years ago. I don't have any references in front of me, so this is all from memory (which is poor, I admit). The round record (as opposed to the Edison cylinder) was invented by Emile Berliner who formed the Victor Talking Machine Company to market it and the record player used to reproduce the sound. (The "correct" term for this record player, BTW, is the gramophone. The phonograph is the name of the Edison invention.) The Victor Talking Machine Company was bought up by RCA and it was RCA Victor that marketed electrical recording (late 20's) and later marketed electrical playback (early 30's). By "electrical recording", I mean direct to disk. This also refers to the consumer market -- I didn't look at the "pro" market (i.e. transcriptions for radio/movies on 12+" disks). Did WE have a hand in the development or was it RCA? Good question. A much earlier "Bell" connection was due to one of good ol' Alexander's relatives (cousin?). He took Edison's invention and improved it and finally marketed it as the graphophone. This was the device that ^^^^^^^^^^^ [Moderator's Note: Did you mean 'gramaphone'? PAT] actually used wax cylinders, instead of foil, as Edison had done. Needless to say, lawsuits followed and Bell won - his method was termed "engraving" (i.e. material, wax, is removed in the process) while Edison used "embossing". > promotional purposes. The wire-recording converted to 'modern magnetic > tape media' (1949, har har!) was of Henry LeMare, municipal organist > for the City of Atlantic City during the 1920's era. It was also > recorded at the auditorium there. LeMare would have probably recorded > it on some earlier type of media; then it went to wire, then tape. It The following will help in dating your recording. The Atlantic City organ, with a 400HP wind plant and over 30,000 pipes, is the largest pipe organ in the world. (Unfortunately, not the largest *playing* pipe organ - it is in a sad state of disrepair. That title belongs to the instrument in the chapel at West Point.) It was designed by Senator Emerson Richards and built by the Midmer-Losh company of Long Island with the contract awarded in early 1929. Built during the Great Depression, it was about 50% complete by May, 1930 and still not finished by April, 1932. Edwin Henry Lemare (1865-1934) was an English organist who moved to the USA. He was quite a virtuoso and, at one time, was the highest paid organist in the world. At various times, he was the municipal organist of San Francisco; Portland, Maine; and Chattanooga, TN. I guess this would place the recording between 1932 - 1934. Motorola C.I.D. I speak for myself, not my employer uunet!motcid!horwath [Moderator's Note: Thanks very much for the detailed accounting of LeMare and Atlantic City. Unfortunatly, its not just the organ which is in a sad state of disrepair. All of Atlantic City -- the famed boardwalk area in particular -- has become a slum, and a crime and drug-infested one at that. Sad, sad, sad ... A contact at the New York Public Library (they have all LeMare's papers in the Special Collections Department) researched this for me today and called back to say his best estimate -- based on reading some stuff in the files -- was the recording had originally been made at the dedication of the instrument in the fall, 1932. If you think a telephone central office has complex wiring and relays, you should try looking inside the console at Atlantic City, or upstairs in the pipe chambers! PAT] ------------------------------ From: wts1 Subject: Re: AT&T Announces New Technical Reference 800 Number Organization: AT&T Federal Systems Advanced Technologies - Burlington, NC Date: Wed, 29 May 1991 20:37:39 GMT > [Moderator's Note: Cornet is the internal phone network of AT&T. Like > many large nationwide corporations, they have their own internal network. > I wonder what they pay for it and who they get it from? :) PAT] Cornet is being/was(?) phased out of existance. It was old, archaic, and cost like heck to the user. It is/was replaced with AT&T's SDN (Software Defined Network?), a much cheaper way too go. (Why not use yourself what you are selling to the customer?). I hope to God that I have not revealed any proprietary information that AT&T uses telephones just like everyone else:-) William T. Sykes AT&T Federal Systems Advanced Technologies Burlington, NC UUCP: att!burl!wts att!cbnewsb!wts1 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #410 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa11093; 31 May 91 10:37 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ag27609; 31 May 91 9:36 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa27475; 31 May 91 3:26 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab20431; 31 May 91 2:13 CDT Date: Fri, 31 May 91 1:08:25 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #411 BCC: Message-ID: <9105310108.ab20844@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Fri, 31 May 91 01:08:15 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 411 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Something Sounds Fishy: $700 Credit For AT&T Employees? [Jack Dominey] Re: Something Sounds Fishy: $700 Credit For AT&T Employees? [Mike Eastman] Re: Something Sounds Fishy: $700 Credit For AT&T Employees? [J. Ackermann] Re: Something Sounds Fishy: $700 Credit For AT&T Employees? [Brian Kohn] Re: Old Phone Museum Being Cranked Up [Roy M. Silvernail] Re: AT&T's Cornet [Michael F. Eastman] Re: New AT&T Calling Card PIN [Douglas Scott Reuben] Re: Free Teletypes [Robert L. Oliver] Re: Free Teletypes [Floyd Davidson] Re: Cheap 9600 bps Modem [Patrick Hoepfner] Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security [Alex Beylin] Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security [George Goble] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jdominey@bsga05.attmail.com Date: Wed May 29 10:13:41 EDT 1991 Subject: Re: Something Sounds Fishy: $700 Credit For AT&T Employees? In V11#407, Rick Farris asks: > Do all AT&T employees receive $700 credit on their phone bills > each month? > A local modem hobbyist is raising quite a stir by bragging about the > $700 credit he receives each month as a "part-time computer security > consultant" for AT&T. > So is a $700 credit reasonable for part-time work? If so, geez, what > kind of credit do full-timers get? It just so happens that today I was filling out my AT&T Form U1241, "InterLATA Toll Discount Plan and Business Reimbursement Approval Request". I certainly won't get back anything like $700! The most I can be reimbursed for personal calls is just under $70. And they'll pay for any business calls I make (assuming my boss approves!). They *won't* pay for overseas personal calls. The money comes back to me on my paycheck. Now I don't know anything about "part-time computer security consultants". He could be working for our Security organization, and who knows how they might reimburse him. There could be some funky credit arrangement. But I would be quite surprised if he were getting credited one penny more than his actual calling. If Mr. Farris' acquaintance is working for AT&T as a snitch, then he's being pretty stupid bragging about it. Perhaps someone who knows this guy should offer to call AT&T Security and let them know about his claims. I'd like to hear what develops. Jack Dominey, AT&T Commercial Marketing, Tucker GA V: (404) 496-6925 AT&T Mail: !dominey Not empowered to speak officially for AT&T. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 17:17:37 EDT From: Michael F Eastman Subject: Re: Something Sounds Fishy: $700 Credit For AT&T Employees? Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories In article , rfarris@rfengr.com (Rick Farris) writes: > Do all AT&T employees receive $700 credit on their phone bills each > month? Unequivocally NO. For management employees if you spend a MAX of $100/month on long distance (AT&T, of course) you get $75 reimbursed. Non-mangement (bargaining unit/union) employees are a little different, but you get the idea. Mike Eastman att!ihlpy!mfe (708) 979-6569 AT&T Bell Laboratories Rm. 4F-328 Naperville, IL 60566 ------------------------------ From: John Ackermann Subject: Re: Something Sounds Fishy: $700 Credit For AT&T Employees? Organization: NCR Corporation - Law Department Date: Thu, 30 May 1991 12:30:22 GMT Since I don't work for AT&T (yet...) I don't have first-hand information about this, but I've heard that AT&T management types get a credit of something like $30.00 of free long distance per month, and some discount on the balance. John R. Ackermann, Jr. Law Department, NCR Corporation, Dayton, Ohio (513) 445-2966 John.Ackermann@daytonoh.ncr.com Packet Radio: ag9v@n8acv tcp/ip: ag9v@ag9v.ampr [44.70.12.34] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 May 91 14:03:31 EDT From: Brian Charles Kohn Subject: Re: Something Sounds Fishy: $700 Credit For AT&T Employees? Reply-To: "bicker@hoqax.ATT.COM" Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Quality Process Center [Since this is information related to a fringe benefit, and regards only me and my own personal finances, I assume that it's okay to discuss. God help me if it's not.] > Do all AT&T employees receive $700 credit on their phone bills each > month? No. > A local modem hobbyist is raising quite a stir by bragging about the > $700 credit he receives each month as a "part-time computer security > consultant" for AT&T. I'd assume that his work requires him to make at least $635 in phone calls on company business on his home phone each month. The company, as most companies, reimburses me for any expenses I personally incur in the course of doing company business. > [Moderator's Note: What I've heard is that they receive either > all or a portion of their long distance service for free; No. I get the first $35 reimbursed, and then a portion of the next $65; I'm a second level manager. I think that's the most generous of the reimbursement programs ... friends of mine who are occupational folk get less. Local phone company people have a better deal (IMHO) ... I think they get they monthly service fees covered ... and occupational folk there get about half of their fees covered. Brian Charles Kohn AT&T Bell Laboratories Quality Process Center Quality Management System E-MAIL: att!hoqax!bicker (bicker@hoqax.ATT.COM) Consultant PHONE: (908) 949-5850 FAX: (908) 949-7724 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Old Phone Museum Being Cranked Up From: "Roy M. Silvernail" Date: Wed, 29 May 91 19:35:11 CDT Organization: Villa CyberSpace, Minneapolis, MN kentrox!bud@uunet.uu.net (Bud Couch) writes: > Pacific Telecom also bought out the old RCA Alascom system, and is > "The Phone Company" in Alaska. One of the biggest, if I remember right. (and if I don't, Floyd will be happy to correct me :-) A couple years ago, Anchorage's mayor wanted to sell the local phone company, and there turned out to be only one bidder ... Pacific Telecom. There was quite a rucus, and the issue was forced to a ballot, where it lost the required margin (60%) but won the popular margin at just over 50%. One of the biggest points made by the opposition was that Pacific Telecom would own some 80% of the state's phone business, if it were to buy the Anchorage Telephone Utility. I used to have a list of the companies owned, but it's fallen into that tame black hole I use for a filing cabinet. Roy M. Silvernail roy%cybrspc@cs.umn.edu cybrspc!roy@cs.umn.edu roy@cybrspc.uucp(maybe!) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 17:09:16 EDT From: Michael F Eastman Subject: Re: AT&T's Cornet Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories In article , jdominey@bsga05.attmail. com writes: > In V11#400, Steven S. Brack edu> asks: > >> The following is part of an AT&T letter dated May 6, 1991: > >> Phone (317) 352-8500 Cornet 358-8500 Fax (317) 352-8468 > > A quick, simple question: what is Cornet? > Pat responded that Cornet is AT&T's internal phone system. > Pat's partially correct. About three years ago, I recall seeing a > company bulletin saying Cornet was being phased out in favor of an > internal Software Defined Network. > Cornet was limited to certain parts of the company (Bell Labs and > former Western Electric locations?). In six years with AT&T, I've > never directly encountered it, although I saw some references. If > memory serves, Cornet was a tandem network. Much of the traffic was > carried over dedicated lines running from switch to switch. It did > provide seven-digit dialing anywhere in the country. Cornet (CORporate NETwork) is indeed being phased out (if not almost all gone). It was used extensively at Bell Labs and Western Electric. CORNET was provided using a network of 1ESS Switches, and then replaced recently by 5ESS Switches. (This same service is/was sold to many large and medium-sized businesses.) This service was replaced by SDN. SDN provides for ten-digit dialing whether using private network facilities or more expensive public facilities. This means the user (employee dialing the phone) need not worry about that. The service provider (AT&T-NSD) takes care of this for the customer (Bell Labs) without each user having to understand any of this. Also, it eliminates the need to remember TWO phone numbers. Mike Eastman att!ihlpy!mfe (708) 979-6569 AT&T Bell Laboratories Rm. 4F-328 Naperville, IL 60566 ------------------------------ Date: 29-MAY-1991 16:57:02.09 From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: Re: New AT&T Calling Card PIN I just got off the phone with AT&T. I spoke to a helpful (as usual) AT&T representative who explained how the "new" AT&T cards work. She said that they were issuing new cards without your phone number, ie, a la Sprint/MCI/ et. al. Very much like the AT&T Universal *Calling Card* number, like in the format of: 507 001 5555 1234. The AT&T rep said that AT&T was doing this for a few reasons, mainly fraud, AOSs, and the possibility that in the future, the Fed will no longer "allow" AT&T cards to "handle" local calls (via the BOCs, GTEs, etc.), nor AT&T (and one would assume Sprint and MCI's 0+, ahem ... "services" ...) to handle BOC Card Long Distance calls. So basically, AT&T answered my question - everything will be staying pretty much the same - you can go on using your BOC card for AT&T and local calls. But you will get a new AT&T card that does not have your phone number on it at all. You don't have to use this (yet), and you can still go on using your BOC card if you have some special AT&T plan, such as their "Reach Out" Calling Card plan or some special WATS calling card, etc. (You may want to check this yourself to be SURE ...) When I asked why I should even bother trying to remember the new AT&T card when my old BOC card works fine, she said "Hmmm ... I don't really know ...", so that's as good a reason as any I've heard for ignoring this most recent and annoying divestiture-related change. The AT&T representative also asked me if I knew about the "10288" access code, since I use my calling card a lot. I told her I did, and she mentioned that I should be able to use this code on a lot more private pay phones now. (COCOTs) Seems like AT&T is really pushing the use of their code ... they've never mentioned that before. Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu // dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet ------------------------------ From: "Robert L. Oliver" Subject: Re: Free Teletypes Organization: Rabbit Software Corp. Date: 29 May 91 20:58:33 GMT Dan_Jacobson@att.com writes: > By the way, is it true that some "Newsradio" stations nowadays just > pipe in teletype clicking to make their newsroom more newsy sounding? > E.g., WBBM-AM in Chicago has this sound. Absolutely. KYW 1060 AM in Philadelphia (three call letters, and a K east of the Mississippi!) is all news all the time, which translates to constant teletype clunking, and if you listen carefully, you can hear where the loop of tape starts over! Robert Oliver Rabbit Software Corp. 215 993-1152 7 Great Valley Parkway East robert@hutch.Rabbit.COM Malvern, PA 19355 !uunet!cbmvax!hutch!robert ------------------------------ From: Floyd Davidson Subject: Re: Free Teletypes Organization: University of Alaska Institute of Marine Science Date: Wed, 29 May 1991 12:15:34 GMT In article Dan_Jacobson@ihlpz.att.com writes: > On 28 May 91 01:29:41 GMT, Stan@li.psi.com (Stanfield L. Smith) said: >> Model 15 teletypes - Newswire vintage, 5 level baudot, gears for any > By the way, is it true that some "Newsradio" stations nowadays just > pipe in teletype clicking to make their newsroom more newsy sounding? > E.g., WBBM-AM in Chicago has this sound. It was usually "canned" sound. Nobody would really want to work around that racket. The tty machines in well designed places were in rooms with sound proofing, and nobody had to listen to them. (At least that is the way it was in the middle 60's when I worked around that kinda stuff. Maybe earlier than that it was real.) Floyd L. Davidson | Alascom, Inc. pays me, |UA Fairbanks Institute of Marine floyd@ims.alaska.edu| but not for opinions. |Science suffers me as a guest. [Moderator's Note: In the old days of Western Union public telegraph offices, the clerks and 'telegraphers' had to hear that noise all day long from several machines behind the counter where they served the public who came in to send messages. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Patrick Hoepfner Subject: Re: Cheap 9600 bps Modem Date: 30 May 91 03:43:29 GMT Organization: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center There will soon be a quite a bunch of modems that do V.32bis, V.42bis, and MNP 5 (For old times sake). The US Robotics variety (Courier V.32bis) is selling for around $600! There is also a V.32bis, V.42bis, MNP5 and send/receive Fax modem from Prometheus selling for around $700! Get 'em while their hot! Pat --> hoepfner@heasfs.gsfc.nasa.gov ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 13:29 EDT From: Alex Beylin Subject: Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security Organization: Chrysler Corp., Center Line, MI In article is written: > The strangest time, however, was when I gave it to the guard when it > was turned off. She *asked me* to turn it on for her! I asked why, > and she just said "turn it on please". Once it bleeped and blinked > for her, she was satisfied. I guess she was convinced that it wasn't > one of those "fake" phones that you can stash 50 tons of cocaine in or > something. I'm waiting for the day they yank the battery off... They usually do the same when I try to carry a portable computer on board. One of the security people always takes me to the side table and asks to see the computer work. Once the lights come on, they let me go. I've always wondered what they do with laptops that require AC power to operate. Is there a three-prong AC plug at the security station? Alex Beylin alexb@cfctech.cfc.com ------------------------------ From: George Goble Subject: Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network Date: Mon, 27 May 91 13:29:25 GMT In article bernhold@red8 (David E. Bernholdt) writes: > In article bowles@stsci.edu (Richard > Bowles) writes: >> mike@post.att.com (Michael Scott Baldwin) writes: >>> She *asked me* to turn it on for her! I asked why, >>> and she just said "turn it on please". Once it bleeped and blinked >>> for her, she was satisfied. I have never had any hassles carrying on a portable Motorola 8000 cell phone. I was usually using it at the gate prior to boarding, and when boarding starting, I always powered it off. A couple of times the attendent started to approach me, and I said I know about the FAA rule and would keep the phone powered off ... no problems. I also have a portable terminal I built in an aluminum "zero" equipment case. It has a Zenith Z-181 laptop, a Telebit 'Blazer+ modem and nineteen Radio Shaft "D" size high capacity Nicad cells. It also has power regulators, and all the associated wiring. It connects to my cell phone and can be used to "dial up" in MNP mode. This thing looks like one hell of a bomb on the X-ray. I usually tell the X-ray operator to "expect an eyefull" before he runs it ... and have gotten many odd looks. One of them didn't even want to open it, but asked me for the battery count! Only once or twice did anyone want it turned on (that seemed to start at Lockerbee time). Once, I was in line at the X-ray at Ft Lauderdale, and got a call about a dead system at Purdue (using Follow-me roaming, during its second week of operation). I set up the terminal on the floor about six feet from the X-ray, dialed up, rebooted the system, etc. When I was done, there was quite a crowd of guards, etc, looking on, and they were "amazed" that I had fixed some other system at Purdue. ghg ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #411 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa11100; 31 May 91 10:37 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ah27609; 31 May 91 9:36 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab27475; 31 May 91 3:36 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ac20431; 31 May 91 2:14 CDT Date: Fri, 31 May 91 1:55:16 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #412 BCC: Message-ID: <9105310155.ab22980@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Fri, 31 May 91 01:55:07 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 412 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Alexander Graham Bell Movie on AMC Friday Night [Tim Irvin] Re: Why Are *Telephone Keypads* Built Upside Down [Jeremy Grodberg] Re: Free Teletypes [Dan Jacobson] Re: International 800 Access [Ken Jongsma] Re: Cellular One Dialing Procedures [John Higdon] Re: Motorola PC-500 Problems [Skip LaSaker via Ron Heiby] Re: One City With Two Area Codes [Scott Barman] Re: 1-900-NO-CHIEF [Tarl Neustaedter] Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [Fred R. Goldstein] Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [Tom Gray] Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [Clive Feather] Re: New PIN For My AT&T Card? [David E. Sheafer] Re: The Definitive ANAC Guide [Tony Harminc] Re: Fax Memory [John C. Fowler] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Alexander Graham Bell Movie on AMC Reply-To: irvin@northstar.dartmouth.edu Date: Thu, 30 May 91 19:28:46 +22322638 From: irvin@northstar105.dartmouth.edu For those of you who get American Movie Classics on cable, tonight (Friday, May 31) at 9:00 pm EDT they are showing: The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (Biography, 1939) *** A fact-based account of the life of the Scottish educator-inventor who developed and perfected the telephone during the 1870s. Don Ameche (2:00) B/W. The above is from OnSat Magazine. Since, I don't subscribe to AMC (or any subscription channels), I guess I'll have to find someone with cable who will let me watch it ;). Tim Irvin ------------------------------ From: Jeremy Grodberg Subject: Re: Why Are *Telephone Keypads* Built Upside Down Reply-To: Jeremy Grodberg Date: Wed, 29 May 91 21:53:05 GMT The real question is why are *Adding Machine* keypads built upside down? Since we read left-to-right and top-to-bottom, and count low-to-high, the telephone keypad would be the obvious choice for layout. Jeremy Grodberg jgro@lia.com ------------------------------ From: Dan_Jacobson@att.com Subject: Re: Free Teletypes Date: Wed, 29 May 91 20:39:00 GMT I have painstakingly put together a summary of e-mail replies to article wherein I wrote: > By the way, is it true that some "Newsradio" stations nowadays just > pipe in teletype clicking to make their newsroom more newsy sounding? > E.g., WBBM-AM in Chicago has this sound. >>>>> On Wed, 29 May 91 08:24:28 EDT, Scott Dorsey >>>>> said: Scott> Yup. In the Tidewater area, WZCL has a tape cartridge with Scott> the teletype sounds, while WCCO uses a synthesizer called the Scott> "Eventide Harmonizer" to generate the background noise. The Scott> Harmonizer is a much nicer device, because it can also simulate Scott> a bandlimited channel with static and helicopter noises for the Scott> traffic report. Scott> God, how I hate commercial radio. >>>>> On Wed, 29 May 91 06:06 CDT, jtl%ddsw1@uunet.UU.NET (Joe Lynn) said: Joe> WBBM-AM's "teletype" sound is a tape. They've been using Joe> that effect for years. >>>>> On Wed, 29 May 91 09:00:25 CDT, ho@csrd.uiuc.edu (Samuel W. Ho) said: Samuel> Hey, WUFI Newsradio here in Champaign-Urbana pipes in - Samuel> dot matrix printer chatter. A Technological Advance. >>>>> On 29 May 91 10:11:22 EDT (Wed), johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us >>>>> (John R. Levine) said: John> Sure is. These days only the teensiest of radio stations would John> have anything as klunky as a real Teletype. More typically the John> newswire goes straight into the word-processing computer. ------------------------------ Subject: RE: International 800 Access Date: Wed, 29 May 91 18:50:48 EDT From: Ken Jongsma For what it's worth: Two years ago, I was in Australia and was unable to use USA Direct to reach a domestic US 800 number. However, several months ago, I was in the UK and had no problems with USA Direct. The AT&T operator placed the call with no questions asked. Billing was as the Moderator described. I paid for the international leg, the callee paid for the domestic portion. It caught me off gaurd when the bill arrived, as the international portion showed up as some place in Pennsylvania. Dialing that number reached an AT&T recording explaining the billing was for an internationally placed 800 call - a nice touch! Ken ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 18:19 PDT From: John Higdon Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: Cellular One Dialing Procedures "Ole J. Jacobsen" writes: > I am trying to convince Cellular One here in the Bay Area that they > need to start accepting "canonical numbers" from cellular phones in > order to be in compliance with generally accepted industry standards. When I read your post, I reached over to my GTE Mobilnet-served handheld and dialed '408 723-1395'. It worked just fine from my 408 mobile number. > but so far I have not had much luck finding anyone who even > understands what I am talking about. Some of the answers I have > received so far include: > "All our calls are routed through Pac*Bell, so we have to follow > Pac*Bell's dialling procedures!" Since Pacific Telesis is a major owner of Cellular One, this could be somewhat truthful. Interestingly enough, however, GTE seems to have no problem providing the dialing scheme you describe, even though its calls are "routed through Pac*Bell" just like Cellular One's. > "We do not have any plans to market the dialling procedure you > requested at this time." So it is a matter of marketing? Is everything "marketing driven" these days? Does it have to be salable to exist? > "All of our switches are programmed from Toronto, thus you can't > talk to the guy in charge of switch programming." That's a good one. I guess if the programmers are actually in Toronto, there are no telephone circuits there so it would be impossible to talk to them. On the other hand, GTE's switches are programmed from Houston and I have talked to programmers for that company. > Since cellular systems employ pre-origination dialling, i.e., the > entire number is sent to the switch before any connection is made, > then it is clearly a small matter of programming to make this work > correctly, or is it not? Obviously, since GTE seems to have no trouble. Your post has served as a great example as to why I left Cellular One for GTE Mobilnet. GTE hides its Houston base very well and comes off as a local operation that is actually interested and concerned about customer satisfaction with every aspect of the service. When I have had concerns and questions, not only did I speak to people who gave me concise and correct information, but in many cases there were follow up calls and local numbers were given to me in case I had additional comments or questions. Frankly, I think it might be worth your while to switch. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: Ron Heiby Subject: Re: Motorola PC-500 Problems (was DiamondTel 99X Weakness) Date: 24 May 91 15:58:35 GMT Organization: Motorola Computer Group, Schaumburg, IL The following is being posted on behalf of someone without direct net access. Ron. Saw your message about your PC-500. You refer to a *dealer* dissatisfaction issue. Motorola loves its customers and your satisfaction is our number one goal. Publishing dissatisfaction with us rather than the dealer is counter-productive. You provide enough information to infer that the phone was NOT NEW. If used, warranty is NOT transferrable. Regardless, I would like to speak with you and resolve to your satisfaction. If your Oki was NEW and your PC-500 was NOT NEW, I say "No Fair." We stand behind our products and customers -- period! Our quality program is second to none. Our customers are our number one priority. Skip LaSaker National Sales Manager Motorola Cellular Group 708-576-8851 -- Ron Heiby, heiby@chg.mcd.mot.com Moderator: comp.newprod ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 14:21:20 EDT From: Scott Barman Subject: Re: One City With Two Area Codes Organization: National Broadcasting Company, Inc., New York In article : > In article , levitt@zorro9.fidonet. > org (Ken Levitt) writes: >> Are there other cities in the country with two area codes? If I sell >> another 500 copies of my program, how likely am I to run across >> another one of them? > And Our Esteemed Moderator Notes: >> I'd think that with the numerous area code splits >> going on in metro areas, your scenario could become quite common. How >> does your program now deal with (post office) New York, NY? > As an inhabitant of (post office) New York, NY, I make haste to inform > you that that locality has only one area code: 212, also shared by > Bronx, NY. > The 718 area code is divided into the USPS localities of Brooklyn, NY; > Flushing, NY; Jamaica, NY; Rockaway, NY; and Staten Island, NY. There > may be one other which slips my mind at the moment. It was announced not too long ago that the Bronx will be changed to 718 so that Manhattan will be the only borough with the 212 area code. Also, NY Tel also announced that a new area code (918, I think) will be used for cellular phones and beepers in New York City (with the possibility of bleed over into Long Island). I don't remember when this was announced nor do I remember when this was to take effect (I think 1/93). This should throw these databases off quite a bit!! :-) scott barman scott@nbc1.ge.com (This does not represent any opinions of NBC or affiliates) ------------------------------ From: Tarl Neustaedter Subject: Re: 1-900-NO-CHIEF Date: 30 May 91 09:53:02 GMT Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc. More interestingly, the fire chief who spent over $1000 in town's money on 900-sex calls, didn't just use his phone. He apparantely took an unused phone and hot-wired it into the sanitation department's phone line. He was traced back when the police tried to take an inventory of all phone equipment and that phone was missing. It suddenly re-appeared the day after, thus triggering suspicions. Tarl Neustaedter tarl@vos.stratus.com Marlboro, Mass. Stratus Computer Disclaimer: My employer is not responsible for my opinions. ------------------------------ From: "Fred R. Goldstein" Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World Date: 30 May 91 16:49:09 GMT Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA In article , YSAR1111@vm1.yorku.ca (Rick Broadhead) writes... > Robert L. Oliver (cbmvax!.UUCP!robert@uunet.uu.net) writes: >> But something rather odd occurred today: I dialed a number in 703, and >> instead of receiving the standard U.S. single ring, I received a non-U.S. >> double ring. > I had a similar experience just a few days ago. I dialed a number in > my own area code (416), exchange 392, and was quite surprised to hear > a double ring. This is the first time I have ever heard a double > ring on the calling end. A couple of possible causes of a double ring in the US: 1) Rolm PBXs use the double ring. If the call terminated on a DID trunk into a Rolm machine, then the PBX generated the ring. Note that DID service implies that the PBX, not the CO, generates the tones. Hence some Rolm oddities: If the line is equipped with Autopark, then if you listen to the busy signal for ten seconds, it goes away and beeps the called party. The caller doesn't pay until the callee picks up. Clever. 2) The No. 1 Crossbar generated double ring on some numbers. Few are left in service but 703 is PacBell so there may be a few left ... Fred R. Goldstein Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com voice: +1 508 952 3274 Do you think anyone else on the planet would share my opinions, let alone a multi-billion dollar corporation? ------------------------------ From: Tom Gray Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World Date: 30 May 91 17:50:02 GMT Organization: Mitel. Kanata (Ontario). Canada. In article ivgate!Jack.Winslade@uunet. uu.net (Jack Winslade) writes: > YSAR1111@vm1.yorku.ca (Rick Broadhead) writes: > There was a discussion of ringing tones in a local conference a while > back (but I can't find it now) which discussed this. It made mention > of a certain suburban Omaha office which until recently had a > vibrating reed tone generator. It was remarked that it sounded like > the passing of gas. ;-) The UK has recently moved to the precise tone plan. However the definition of the previous dial tone was: a PURRING tone at about -15dBm. A more euphemistic way of describing the tone perhaps :-) Tom Gray ------------------------------ From: Clive Feather Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World Date: Thu, 30 May 91 16:33:29 BST In 11-394, ct@dde.dk writes: > No! Denmark is ED, not BD. And the Moderator Notes: > And he really should have left the USA out of his list also, since > we have a wide variety of ringing and busy signals, depending on > where you call. The list that andyb@rags.coat.com posted was originally posted by me, and comes direct from a British Telecom publication. Please blame them, not Andy or me. Also, cbmvax!.UUCP!robert@uunet.uu.net writes: > I dialed a number in 703, and instead of receiving the standard U.S. > single ring, I received a non-US double ring. This could be because the number is connected to another country. For example, 1-800-XDESK-57 is located in Cambridge UK (it maps to a UK number, not the one in my signature), and so gives the double-ring that all UK numbers do. Clive D.W. Feather | IXI Limited clive@x.co.uk | 62-74 Burleigh St. Phone: +44 223 462 131 | Cambridge CB1 1OJ (USA: 1 800 XDESK 57) | United Kingdom ------------------------------ From: David E. Sheafer Reply-To: nin15b0b@merrimack.edu Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Date: 30 May 91 10:00:34 GMT Organization: Merrimack College, No. Andover, MA I have an AT&T calling card, and a New England Telephone Calling card. Interestingly they both have the identical number and PIN. I also have an AT&T Universal card and in the past have used it to make calls for both Interlata (AT&T) and Intralata (New England Telephone). I wonder if this is going to change. I haven't received anything in th mail as of yet. David E. Sheafer internet: nin15b0b@merrimack.edu or uucp: samsung!hubdub!nin15b0b GEnie: D.SHEAFER Cleveland Freenet: ap345 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 May 91 15:05:05 EDT From: Tony Harminc Subject: Re: The Definitive ANAC Guide In 416 the ANAC number is 997-nnnn. The catch is that nnnn changes quite often (monthly or thereabouts). No I don't know the current nnnn. Tony Harminc ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 May 91 17:05:25 PDT From: "John C. Fowler" Subject: Re: Fax Memory Organization: University of California, San Diego If security among the individuals is not a problem, this may be a case where technology is not the best way to go. Instead, just put out ten boxes. Arrange for fax callers to indicate the box number, and have the recipients sort out each other's faxes. You may say that this wastes time, but it will certainly be shorter than waiting for a 100-page printout. If the volume of faxes received per individual is so large that the above is not a viable option, then perhaps ten separate fax machines is the best idea after all. There's no reason to make the recipients wait for the printout. John C. Fowler, jfowler@ucsd.edu ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #412 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa11131; 2 Jun 91 1:48 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa00880; 2 Jun 91 0:19 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa30090; 1 Jun 91 23:13 CDT Date: Sat, 1 Jun 91 22:23:49 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #413 BCC: Message-ID: <9106012223.ab08152@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sat, 1 Jun 91 22:23:40 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 413 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Looking For Motorola Service Manual [Cliff Yamamoto] 900 Numbers and Privacy [David Gast] Need Information on Voice Mail [Luesak Chowpradith] Voice Mail Under Apple Unix (A/UX) and Fax Modems [Greg Maples] Stationary Cellular Phone Wanted [Alex Beylin] E-Mail Addresses of Companies in the Telecom Business [Juergen Ziegler] Carrier Fraud Liability Citation Wanted [Peter Marshall] Texas (GTE) and Class [Bob Peterson] Remote ISDN Connection Wanted [Claudio Nieder] Printing Text Files on Fax From VMS [Claudio Nieder] Rotary Dial Phones Forgotten But Not Gone [R. Kevin Oberman] Another Embarrassed Employee? (was Hayes Wins Damages) [Daniel Herrick] Modification of Ringback Tone by Subscriber Apparatus [Dave Levenson] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: cyamamot@kilroy.jpl.nasa.gov (Cliff Yamamoto) Subject: Looking for Motorola Service Manual Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA Date: Wed, 29 May 91 15:52:48 GMT Greetings, Motorola makes great stuff, but they never want to help the little guy who needs a service manual for some used stuff. I bought a model N1275A power amp used for 470-494 which I'd like to modify for amateur radio use. I after several phone calls I found the part numbers for the service manuals, but Motorola won't sell them to any Joe Blow. If anyone can help me locate or xerox the following manuals I'd appreciate it: Motorola part#: 6881020C85 Motorola part#: 6881070C60 Thanks in advance, Cliff Yamamoto - KA6JRG Internet: cyamamot@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov cyamamot@kilroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov Bitnet: cyamamot%kilroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov@Hamlet.Bitnet Uucp: uunet!kilroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov!cyamamot@uunet.UU.NET ames!elroy!jato!jpl-mil!kilroy.jpl.nasa.gov!cyamamot ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 17:43:22 -0700 From: David Gast Subject: 900 Numbers and Privacy Someone wrote yesterday: > At the end it reports that 900 numbers increasingly capture the > callers' numbers and translate them to addresses. According to Sprint > Gateways, the US Sprint 900 department, they are able "to identify the > names and addresses of the nine closest neighbors of the original 900 > caller. With this information, additional qualified prospects can be > identified for database marketing efforts." This service goes to show that even if one protects his/her privacy, others are there to invade it. What this service seems to imply is that you are like your neighbors. If one of them calls 1-900-KINKY-SEX (yes, I realize the X does not count as part of the phone number), then you can receive promotional literature or phone calls. If one of them calls, 1-900-4SPORTS, you too, can receive promotional literature. I am so happy to hear that I have the same interests as my neighbors. I expect to get a lot of material I can't read because I don't read all of languages they speak. Finally, I am curious about the nine closest neighbors. My guess is that it is nine numbers close by, probably arranged by address. I doubt that US Sprint actually has detailed maps indicating the location and configuration of every apartment and house on every plot of land. It would be interesting to know who my nine closest neighbors are or even the nine closest neighbors of my parents. Where do they measure from? Where the phone enters the building? The center of the property? All in all, I would estimate that Sprint is exaggerating its claims again. At least, I hope they do not have these detailed maps. David ------------------------------ From: ccicpg!conexch!luesak@uunet.uu.net Date: Wed May 29 13:36:21 1991 Subject: Need Information on Voice Mail Reply-To: luesak@conexch.UUCP (Luesak Chowpradith) Organization: The Consultants' Exchange, Orange County, CA. (714) 842-6348 I would like to know whether anybody could forward me some info regarding voice mail products. Right now I am trying to get more information about it before buying anything. Please e-mail any info to "luesak@conexch.UUCP" Thank you. luesak@conexch.UUCP ------------------------------ From: Greg Maples Subject: Voice Mail Under Apple Unix (A/UX) and Fax Modems Organization: DuPont Design Technologies Group Date: Fri, 31 May 91 00:38:27 GMT This may be a long shot, but here's what I want to do: Get a central voice mail processing card that stores digitized voice when a phone circuit rings over. I would then like to be able to store and forward this file to the intended recipient as mail. If a central system is available, it would be for a Sun 4/370 running 4.1.1 If the only possibility is a card per user machine, they would be for Apple Mac II's running A/UX. I would also like to be able to get a fax modem card at 9600/9600 for the Sun 4/370 that would do send and receive faxes via a network shareable server or queue like the 'lp' daemon. Another possibility would be a smart ethernet device to do this. Are there such devices as these? Who makes them? What are the limitations, features, etc. If there are enough replies and interest generated, I'll post a summary. Greg Maples | These are my opinions, not yours. Keep your Systems Group Leader | hands off 'em. They're also not the opinions DuPont Design Technologies | of my employer or yours. So there. (c) 1991 maples%ddtisvr@uunet.uu.net | The preceding is an opinion which is mine. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 15:30 EDT From: Alex Beylin Subject: Stationary Cellular Phone Wanted Organization: Chrysler Financial Corp., Southfield, MI I have a somewhat unusual set of requirements for a cellular phone unit and so far have been unable to find one that fits. Perhaps someone in the telecom land can help. This cellular phone needs to be transportable, but it will be moved at most once or twice a month, so size in not an issue. Most of the time this phone will be located inside of a house and will be used just as if it is a standard wired telephone. One of the primary requirements is ability to plug it into an AC outlet. The idea is to plug it in and forget about it till it needs to be moved. The feature set is not important. The only highly desirable feature is on-hook dialing. 20+ number memory would be a nice bonus as well. An important consideration is the price. I would like to buy this unit with Ameritech subscription and am willing to go to one of the applience discount shops (Fretter, Highland, etc) that get kick backs from Ameritech. Availability under $100 is best. Any suggestions are welcome. Does a unit like that even exist? Alex Beylin, Systems Specialist | +1 313 759-7114 alexb@cfctech.cfc.com | Chrysler Corp. MIS sharkey!cfctech!alexb | Distributed Systems Group [Moderator's Note: The Radio Shack CT-301 units in Chicago are attached to Ameritech. You can let them sit in the charging holster (which is plugged in) all the time, and take it out when you want to carry it somewhere. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 17:14 From: "Juergen, ZIEGLER" Subject: E-Mail Addresses of Companies in the Telecom Business Hi there, Is there a list of e-mail addresses available of all firms in the telecommunications business (telco, ld-carriers, vans, ... ) ? Thanks, Juergen BITNET : UJ32@DKAUNI2.BITNET Internet : UJ32@ibm3090.rz.uni-karlsruhe.dbp.de X.400 : S=UJ32;OU=ibm3090;OU=rz;P=uni-karlsruhe;A=dbp;C=de [Moderator's Note: Very likely there is not. Such a list would have thousands of entries in the USA alone, where there are 1400+ telephone copanies, large and small. There are printed directories. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Carrier Fraud Liability Citation Wanted From: Peter Marshall Date: Wed, 29 May 91 13:12:44 PDT Regarding this topic, can readers provide information about a recent FCC Notice and/or a Pacific Mutual Petition? Thanks. Peter Marshall The 23:00 News and Mail Service - +1 206 292 9048 - Seattle, WA USA PEP, V.32, V.42 ------------------------------ Subject: Texas (GTE) and Class From: Bob Peterson Date: Wed, 29 May 91 05:34:36 CST Organization: The Zeitgeist BBS, Plano, TX 214 596 3720 Yesterday evening I received a sales call from a very nice lady representing GTE, my local dial tone provider. She wanted to sell me call waiting, cancel call waiting, distinctive ringing, etc. After I told her I wasn't interested I asked if she was employed by GTE or by a marketing company. She stammered for a moment, then replied, "Both." So I took a chance and asked her a couple of questions. I asked if GTE planned to implement Caller Id. She amazed me by replying that CID was part of Class service, and that GTE would be implementing CID once the Public Utilities Commission approved it. The current holdup, she told me, was CID's conflict with a Texas privacy law. I then asked if Call Trace would be available as well. Not only did she answer, "Yes," but she described how Call Trace should be used. Then she gave me a *NN code that will execute the trace! Finally, I asked which Texas privacy law prevented CID. This finally stumped her, but she promply suggested I query the business office for the citation. I was quite impressed that this individual, who I initially expected would be reading a prepared script with little understanding, seemed to have a pretty reasonable grasp of not only current GTE services, but future services as well. Bravo GTE! Hardcopy and Electronic Addresses: Office @ Texas Instruments: Bob Peterson Compuserve: 70235,326 NB 2nd Floor CSC Aisle C3 P.O. Box 861686 Internet: peterson@csc.ti.com Landline: 214/995-6080 days Plano, Tx USA 75086 24 hour BBS: 214/596-3720 @ 1200, 2400, 9600 (HST & V.32) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 May 1991 14:36:12 +0000 From: Claudio Nieder Subject: Remote ISDN Connection Wanted Organization: Physics Institute, University of Zuerich, Switzerland Hi, We would like to connect VAXes running VMS and PCs running MS-DOS to ISDN. The ISDN plugs shall be located at a different place than the VAXes and PCs, and it should be possible to share them between the different computers. So we need a box which connects on an ethernet and on ISDN and the necessary software for PCs and VAXes for accessing the ISDN lines through this box. Does such a box exist? We would for the moment also be interested in a solution which works only with the VAXes. Please mail me if you know of some solution to my problem. I'll summarize to the net. claudio (claudio@forty2.physik.unizh.ch) Also: PSI%022847931125::TRZCL1::C_NIEDER, K538912@CZHRZU1A.BITNET Claudio Nieder AST 3.944 (DW 6) | Tel: +41 1 465-2249 Alcatel STR AG, Friesenbergstrasse 75, CH-8055 Zuerich | Fax: +41 1 465-3525 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 May 1991 14:39:05 +0000 From: Claudio Nieder Subject: Printing Text Files on Fax From VMS Organization: Physics Institute, University of Zuerich, Switzerland Hi, We are using a program running on VAX(VMS) which produces some lists (plain text, no graphics) on a local printer. There should be a possibility to print them on a remote fax machine. We are looking for a solution which can be implemented without any costly program development etc. The best solution would be if there already exists some product which would make the fax machine appear to the program like a local printer, so that no change to the existing software is necessary. Does anybody know about such a solution? Any help welcome. Please send E-Mail, I'll summarize to the net. claudio (claudio@forty2.physik.unizh.ch) Also: PSI%022847931125::TRZCL1::C_NIEDER, K538912@CZHRZU1A.BITNET Claudio Nieder AST 3.944 (DW 6) | Tel: +41 1 465-2249 Alcatel STR AG, Friesenbergstrasse 75, CH-8055 Zuerich | Fax: +41 1 465-3525 ------------------------------ From: oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov Subject: Rotary Dial Phones Forgotten But Not Gone Date: 30 May 91 15:07:54 GMT Well, a government agency (or its contractors) has again forgotten about those silly, old-fashioned rotary phones. This morning's {Tri-Valley Herald} (Livermore, CA) reports that a $25,000 telephone messaging and information system installed in the county courthouse is not accessible by rotary-dialed phones. "Those unfortunate enough to have the old-fashioned types of telephones will be disconnected five seconds after the menu of keypad choices ends." The system for the small claims and civil divisions was supposed to switch to an operator if no menu items were selected, but "somehow, it got lost in the cracks" said John Reymundo, division chief of the small claims court. It's not clear who is responsible. Craig Watts of Pacific Bell is quoted "That is bad." and "I sure hope it wasn't our system." and claimed that 23% of California households have rotary phones. (First time I've heard that number. I wonder where he got it.) The company who installed the system was unavailable for comment. (Gee, I wonder why?) I wonder how many more of these we will see. I wonder when COs will start dropping support for rotory phones into electronic switches? I suspect it's coming now that tone dialing is "free" in California. Maybe there will soon be a charge to allow rotory dialing in the future with all rotory service moved to the old switches? R. Kevin Oberman Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Internet: oberman@icdc.llnl.gov (415) 422-6955 Disclaimer: Don't take this too seriously. I just like to improve my typing and probably don't really know anything useful about anything. ------------------------------ From: herrickd@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com Subject: Another Embarrassed Employee? (was Hayes Wins Damages) Date: 30 May 91 12:05:38 EST In article , hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net (Toby Nixon) writes: > My previous response was to an employee of another modem company that > appeared to be inviting a lawsuit. I considered that to be a separate > matter from the issues related to the validity of the Heatherington > patent and the related cases. I was subsequently contacted by the > management of that company, and it was clearly stated that the > opinions expressed by that employee were not those of the company or > its management (as I suspected). There has been a lot of grieving in this forum over the idea of disciplinary action against Randy Borow. Here is another example of a serious indiscretion by an employee. I wonder about the current state of that employee's career. The relevant differences are that Randy involved his employer in a breaking of the law while the one that Toby mentions was only a serious embarrassment. dan herrick herrickd@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com ------------------------------ From: Dave Levenson Subject: Modification of Ringback Tone by Subscriber Apparatus Date: 2 Jun 91 01:40:10 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA In article YSAR1111@vm1.yorku.ca (Rick Broadhead) writes: > I had a similar experience just a few days ago. I dialed a number in > my own area code (416), exchange 392, and was quite surprised to hear > a double ring. This is the first time I have ever heard a double > ring on the calling end. It is possible that you reached a DID trunk into a PBX. In this case, the ringing, busy, and other 'call progress' tones are not supplied by the C.O., but by the destination PBX. If this PBX generates a double-ring tone toward the calling party (possibly when it generates a double-ring toward the called party) then that's what you'll hear. Were you calling a commercial establishment? A college dorm or campus? Some other place where you were dialing directly to an extension of a large private network? Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #413 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa17004; 2 Jun 91 3:59 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa02065; 2 Jun 91 2:26 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa08857; 2 Jun 91 1:19 CDT Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 0:20:56 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #414 BCC: Message-ID: <9106020020.ab18718@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sun, 2 Jun 91 00:20:28 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 414 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Telemarketing by The Middlesex News [John R. Covert] Two Beepers, One Number [Ken Levitt] Homebrew Networking [Official Random] Engineering Help Needed [leroy Casterline] Wanted: T1/CEPT1 VME Card [Brian Carlton] MCI Prefered (Correction on Prices) [Bill Huttig] Carrier ID Number - 700-555-4x4x [Bill Huttig] MCI $20 Promotion [Rick Anderson] 908 Area Code Switchover [Tom Neff] Does Fred Know Something We Don't Know? [Charlie Mingo] Billing Cutover Question [Linc Madison] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 31 May 91 10:01:15 PDT From: "John R. Covert 31-May-1991 1255" Subject: Telemarketing by The Middlesex News Telecom readers will remember the letter I wrote last year concerning telemarketing calls from {The Middlesex News}. That letter stated, in part: > I pay New England Telephone for residential telephone service for my > own purposes, and I allow my number to be listed so that people who > know me but do not know my number may find it out and call me. I > also pay New England Telephone for call forwarding service and pay > NYNEX Mobile Communications for mobile telephone service so that > I can receive desired calls when I am not at home. > I do not wish to be called by telemarketers, especially by companies > such as The Middlesex News which continue to call repeatedly after I > have told them to cease and desist. This letter documents, in writing, > my request for The Middlesex News to permanently remove me from any > and all telemarketing lists, and to never call again. > Should my request be ignored, I am serving notice that I will bill > you for the actual cost of any call forwarding or mobile telephone > call that results when you call my home telephone number. In addition, > I will bill you a service charge of between $20 and $100 for processing > your call. Yesterday, they called again. I am sending the following letter: 31 May 1991 Mrs. Paula Bubello Director of Telemarketing The Middlesex News 33 New York Avenue Framingham, Massachusetts 01701 Dear Mrs. Bubello: Yesterday evening at around 7:05 pm, as I was driving on Route 1 North, I received a telemarketing call from The Middlesex News. The caller told me that his name was David, but refused to tell me his full name. As I informed you in my letter written almost exactly one year ago, I do not wish to receive calls from the Middlesex News. In that letter, I also informed you that I would bill you for the cost of the call forwarding and the cellular mobile telephone charges, as well as a service charge of between $20 and $100 for processing your call. I have enclosed a copy of that letter. This letter again asks, rather demands, that The Middlesex News never contact me by telephone again. My service charge will increase each time The Middlesex News calls, and if this invoice is unpaid, I will institute legal action. I N V O I C E 30 May 1991 Call Forwarding Message Unit 0.09 Cellular Air Time Charge 0.32 Massachusetts Telecom Tax 0.02 Federal Telecom Tax 0.01 Telemarketing Service Charge 20.00 TOTAL $20.44 THIS BILL IS PAYABLE AND DUE WHEN RECEIVED, AND IS OVERDUE AFTER 5 JULY 1991. Sincerely, John R. Covert ------- If they don't pay, they will get a second notice, and then I will gamble $14 to see if Small Claims Court will order payment. john ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 May 91 21:51:29 EDT From: Ken Levitt Subject: Two Beepers, One Number I own two Motorola digital pagers type BPR2000 Model A03BGB4661C. One of them is currently receiving messages from a local beeper provider and the other one is not. The units are identical in every way (including frequency) except for the serial number. I would like to have both units beep when the signal comes in so that I could carry one unit and my partner could carry the other. Only one of us would be on call at any given time, but it would be nice to not have to pass the unit back and forth constantly. The serial number seems to be contained on a long white plug in chip that is labeled "Motorola Permacode Code Plug". Is there any way to reprogram this chip or to purchase a new chip that matches the number of my other beeper? Ken Levitt - On FidoNet gateway node 1:16/390 UUCP: zorro9!levitt INTERNET: levitt%zorro9.uucp@talcott.harvard.edu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 May 91 22:26:19 EDT From: Official Random Subject: Homebrew Networking For a year and a half, I've dialed in to the local terminal server of [state university which shall remain nameless.] Until last December, access was facilitated via an X.25 statewide network, which has since died due to budget cuts and cost overruns. Having discovered four-digit phone bills (that's four to the left of the decimal), I am taking the following action. I live three NXXes from the dial-in. Diagram: Dial-in ----- NXX ----- NXX ----- Me Oddly, I am only local to the NXX nearest to me, but it is local to the NXX beyond it _and_ the dial-in's NXX. Having an aunt and uncle who live in the NXX which is local to both me and the dial-in, I have gotten their permission to get telephone service at their residence. For a cost of about $18.88 a month - including taxes - I get unlimited local calling and call forwarding. Of course, the call forwarding will be _permanently_ programmed to forward to the dial-in. The plot thickens: The dial-in has a rack of 18 modems in a hunt group. Therefore, if I am on line and someone else calls my forwarding number, it does NOT busy on them, but rather just drops them to the next available line. My aunt and uncle will also (according to the local BOC people I ordered this from) be able to dial out, utterly unaffected by the whole forwarding scheme. I stand to save about $400 _at least_ each month by doing this. My friends from nearby exchanges will also get substantial savings. Things like this make me begin to wonder why people phreak ... if you ask me, the phone company is voluntarily losing money in this case, and, worse yet, losing money it would be getting from the lucrative DCOM gang. Are they being nice? Are they just confused? [No one I talked to could understand it.] Is this illegal? [I know it's unethical, and I quit school before Ethics 101.] Will they eventually get really p-o'ed at me? Should I have done this long ago? Should we all do this? Should I get Identi-Call service and Call Forwarding on the data line here, thus creating a situation where calls to the auxiliary number would ring, but calls to the main data number would forward through my new port and onto Internet - thus providing absolutely free network access for an entire county?? Just curious. shag [Moderator's Note: There are instances -- very few of them, and yours is apparently one -- where two or more local calls chained together wind up costing less than a single toll call when you include the cost of the forwarded call AND the fixed expenses each month such as line charges, the call-forwarding monthly fee, etc. Obviously, all links in the chain have to have (relative to the one they connect with) unlimited, untimed local calling to make it worthwhile. As soon as any one link has to pay tolls, you may as well all pay tolls, since the difference will be negligible or possibly even against your favor! Now it may be that unlimited calling is available from you to your aunt and from her to the site with *residence* service, but as you will recall from a previous discussion here, as soon as you solicit the public to call your telephone number, la-la! you have a BUSINESS line, and BUSINESS rates. Do the BUSINESS telephones on the same exchange as your aunt *also* get unlimited local calling? I'd be surprised if they do. In Chicago, business phones are charged by the minute even on very local calls. No unlimited, untimed service for them! So maybe when you start inviting 'the entire county' along with all your friends to use the line at their pleasure to avoid tolls, particularly since the whole thing terminates in a business subcriber's equipment (the modem lines at the site), telco might feel you were soliciting the public to call your phone, i.e. the recent BBS sysop fiasco and convert the forwarded line at your aunt's place to business service. Then what? Back to paying tolls? If this works for you, fine, but best keep it to yourself and use it -- not invite everyone else to join in. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 May 91 21:51:11 -0600 From: leroy Casterline Subject: Engineering Help Needed My company is in need of an engineer (consultant/contractor OK) with state-of-the-art knowledge in the design of voice storage systems, and experience designing telephone equipment (digital answering machine design work would be especially relevent). We are especially concerned with reducing the amount of storage required for these messages. If you are interested in working on such a project, please contact me. Leroy Casterline | Cahill Casterline Ltd | Fort Collins, CO | 303/484-2212 Internet:casterli@lamar.colostate.edu | Compu$erve:70540,3307 | BIX:leroy ------------------------------ Subject: Wanted: T1/CEPT1 VME Card From: Brian Carlton Date: Wed, 29 May 91 22:21:15 PDT Organization: BDCsys, Sunnyvale, CA Does anyone know of a card to go into a VME chassis that has a T1 or CEPT1 interface? This is not just trying to hook a computer up to a T1 line, but to allow VME cards to talk to the interface. Please mail replies to me, if there is interest I will summarize any answers. Brian Carlton ------------------------------ From: Bill Huttig Subject: MCI Prefered (Correction on Prices) Date: 31 May 91 01:44:30 GMT Reply-To: Bill Huttig Organization: Florida Institute of Technology, ACS, Melbourne, FL The posting on MCI Prefered I made had several errors in it. Below is a new summary. Customer Service 800-727-5555 Under $50 in calls -- $7.50/month .235 Day /.1645 Evening/ .1293 Night Homework option (Home phones billed to the account) .25 day/ .12 all other Regional calling - State (might be LATA or area code not clear yet) Rates vary by state - Homework rates differ Personal/Private 800 - no mothly fee Per minute rates same as above Clasic 800 - $10/mo $10 for installation Per minute rates same as above Travel card /account code included ... many other options available. ------------------------------ From: Bill Huttig Subject: Carrier ID Number - 700-555-4x4x Date: 31 May 91 02:05:47 GMT Reply-To: Bill Huttig Organization: Florida Institute of Technology, ACS, Melbourne, FL I was under the impression that the number to ID carriers was 1-700-555-4141. MCI Prefered advertises 700-555-4343. Since they are not my 1+, I did some testing and thought the Digest readers might be interested in the results: PIC 700-555 Message 222 4141 Thank You for selecting MCI for.. now connected 2RR 222 4343 Thank You.............................connected 2RR 222 4242 same as 222 4141 852 4141 Thank You for using TELECOM*USA ...call 800-476-1234 852 4242 We are sorry your call can not be completed as dialed AC 852 4343 Thank You for selecting MCI ... now connected 2BP 852 4444 connect to directory assistence The 852 4343 is in the same voice as the 222 PIC ones but not the 852 4141. Why does the 852 PIC behave this way ... it was a SouthernNet PIC. Teleconnects' PIC is 835 ... does it behave this way? Bill [Moderator's Note: From here just now, 10852-700-anything got me a message saying 'call cannot be completed with the carrier access code you have chosen.' PAT] ------------------------------ From: Rick Anderson Subject: MCI $20 Promotion Organization: gte Date: Thu, 30 May 1991 20:26:50 GMT I believe MCI is currently undergoing a nationwide promotion whereby they will give you $20 if you switch over to them as your primary carrier. I recently received a check in the mail from MCI for $20. The check was a normal check on the front, but on the back, it said if I endorsed and cashed the check, I would be switched over to MCI. My question to the net: is it legally feasible to cross out this endorsement message, sign the check, collect the $20, and then legally expect to not be switched over to MCI?? I realize they will probably switch you over regardless of what you do, but by crossing out the endorsement message, haven't you taken away the "ok" for them to switch you over? Rick Anderson AG Communication Systems ...!ncar!noao!asuvax!gtephx!andersonr ...!att!gtephx!andersonr ...!uunet!zardoz!hrc!gtephx!andersonr [Moderator's Note: As soon as you cross out the special endorsement you no longer have the right to cash the check which was issued as payment for your having given permission to change your phones. When you withheld your permission, you had no right to the money. And please, no one needs to reply saying 'you have the right to keep things of value which arrive in the mail unsolicited'. This was not 'something of value'. It was a contract they were requesting you to sign in exchange for immediate payment for doing so. Big difference. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tom Neff Subject: 908 Area Code Switchover Date: 31 May 91 07:03:27 GMT Reply-To: Tom Neff Just a reminder that New Jersey's 908 area code becomes mandatory on Saturday, June 8, 1991 at 2 A.M. This affects 1.5 million phones (314 exchanges) in central New Jersey, formerly part of 201. The area code has been available since January 1990. As of Saturday you will get a recording if you still dial 201. ------------------------------ From: Charlie Mingo Subject: Does Fred Know Something We Don't Know? Date: 31 May 91 15:11:36 goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com (Fred R. Goldstein) writes: > A couple of possible causes of a double ring in the US: > 2) The No. 1 Crossbar generated double ring on some numbers. Few are > left in service but 703 is PacBell so there may be a few left ... ^^^^^^^ If PacBell provides service in 703 (Arlington and Roanoke, VA), they're certainly keeping a low profile; for example, the bills come from C&P. The only PacBell phone I've ever seen in 703 was in "Die Hard 2," when Bruce Willis found one at Dulles. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Jun 91 00:48:39 PDT From: Linc Madison Subject: Billing Cutover Question As of about 45 minutes ago, calls between Berkeley and San Francisco "Central" (roughly the northeastern 1/3 of the city, including downtown, North Beach, Castro, and Mission areas) are local (Zone 1). I was musing on the question of what would have happened were I in the midst of a call at the time of the cutover. Suppose, for example, I called someone in S.F. at 11:50 and talked for 25 minutes. In exact compliance with the tariff, I should be charged 40% x ($0.08 + 9 x $0.02) = $0.10 for the first ten minutes, and nothing for the remaining 15 (unless I have measured service, in which case I would pay 40% x (15 x $0.01) = $0.06). Would my phone bill show the Zone 2 call as having a duration of 10 minutes, or 25? Would I have caused all the billing computers at Pac*Bell to explode, engulfing downtown San Francisco in a massive conflagration? Did they actually cut over at 4:00 this afternoon so as not to have to pay people overtime to figure these things out? Linc Madison = linc@tongue1.berkeley.edu PS. I now get to call Belvedere, Sausalito, and Walnut Creek, as well!! [Moderator's Note: Ah, Linc ... here's one for you to worry about: you are crossing the Pacific Ocean coming from Australia to California. You are using the phone, making a collect call to SFC. When you cross the international date line so it becomes the previous day once again, do they charge you for a call which lasted a number of minutes? After all, the call was finished before you even started it. Suppose on the (Australian) day you started the call, the telco was changing over to a new billing plan at the exact moment you were crossing the IDL ... would they charge the minutes using the old calculation or the new one? :) PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #414 ******************************   Received: from [129.105.5.103] by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa05776; 2 Jun 91 13:23 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa09006; 2 Jun 91 11:23 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa06736; 2 Jun 91 10:15 CDT Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 10:15:04 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #415 BCC: Message-ID: <9106021015.ab07529@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sun, 2 Jun 91 10:15:00 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 415 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [Steven S. Brack] Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [Scott Hinckley] Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [John Higdon] Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [Robert L. Oliver] Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security [Michael Nolan] Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security [Colin Plumb] Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security [Floyd Davidson] Re: Old Phone Museum Being Cranked Up [Floyd Davidson] Re: C&P Telephone "Anti-Slam" Flag and Amazing Service [John Higdon] Re: Thrfity Tel [David Gast] Re: Fax Memory [David Ptasnik] Re: Incoming Lines From Telco [braun@dri.com] Re: Rotary Dial Phones Forgotten But Not Gone [Brian Kantor] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World From: "Steven S. Brack" Date: Thu, 30 May 91 16:21:39 EDT Organization: Blue Moon BBS ((614) 868-998[0][2][4]) kentrox!bud@uunet.uu.net (Bud Couch) writes: > Most C.O. switches built in the last ten years *deliberately* divorce > the ringback tone heard by the calling party from the acrual ringing > sound at the called party's phone. This has been done to cut down on > revenue "leakage" due to ringing code schemes: "Well, when we get to > Aunt Gertie's house, we'll call and leave it ring three times." > Modern switches, in general, return ringback both slower and > asynchronously from the actual ringing in order to foul up those > schemes. "Why did you answer? It only rang twice." "Twice? It started > on the fourth ring here!" Do the IECs do anything to combat sending messages other ways? I can remember my mother telling me (when I was a young man going on a long trip) that when I landed, I was to make a collect call home, and say it was from "Mr. Holmes." It seems that doing something like this would be very costly to the IECs. Oh, I made that collect call through AT&T. Funny, it wasn't that long ago that we had one phone company. 8| <- The jury's still out on whether I should ) or (. Steven S. Brack | sbrack%bluemoon@nstar.rn.com Jacob E. Taylor Honors Tower | sbrack@bluemoon.uucp The Ohio State University | sbrack@nyx.cs.du.edu 50 Curl Drive | sbrack@isis.cs.du.edu Columbus, Ohio 43210-1112 USA | brack@ewf.eng.ohio-state.edu +1 614 293 7383 or 419 474 1010 | Steven.S.Brack@osu.edu ------------------------------ From: Scott Hinckley Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World Date: 31 May 91 12:41:53 GMT Reply-To: scott@hsvaic.boeing.com Organization: I try not to In kentrox!bud@uunet.uu.net (Bud Couch) writes: > Modern switches, in general, return ringback both slower and > asynchronously from the actual ringing in order to foul up those > schemes. "Why did you answer? It only rang twice." "Twice? It started > on the fourth ring here!" I have not found this to be the case in Atlanta or Huntsville. In both towns I have had an answering machine with a 'toll saver' feature. If there has not been a message left it allows four rings then picks up. If there has been a message it picks up after two rings (thus if you are calling long distance to check for calls you can hang up on the third ring to avoid charges for no messages). I have always had it pick up after the correct number of rings as heard by either the caller or the callee (plenty of time was spent verifying this). Scott Hinckley Internet:scott@hsvaic.boeing.com|UUCP:...!uunet!uw-beaver!bcsaic!hsvaic!scott DISCLAIMER: All contained herein are my opinions, they do not|+1 205 461 2073 represent the opinions or feelings of Boeing or its management| BTN:461-2073 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 May 91 11:28 PDT From: John Higdon Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World Fred R. Goldstein writes: > 2) The No. 1 Crossbar generated double ring on some numbers. Few are > left in service but 703 is PacBell so there may be a few left ... What? Did I read that right? Last time I was in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the RBOC was the descendent of C&P. Is Pac*Bell there as an independent somewhere? I cannot imagine that the forces of the universe would allow what Pac*Bell calls service to escape the borders of California. But the mention of #1 crossbar is sound. Back in the not-so-distant past, all phones served by local #1 crossbar had the normal "single" ring if the numbers ended in 000-499 and a "double" ring if they ended in 500-999. I used to feel so superior because I had the more highly advanced #5 crossbar. Unfortunately, I still do. They now have #5ESS. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: "Robert L. Oliver" Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World Organization: Rabbit Software Corp. Date: 31 May 91 23:41:39 GMT goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com (Fred R. Goldstein) writes: > 2) The No. 1 Crossbar generated double ring on some numbers. Few are > left in service but 703 is PacBell so there may be a few left ... ACK! Run for your lives! Has PacBell taken over Virginia too?! Robert Oliver Rabbit Software Corp. 215 993-1152 7 Great Valley Parkway East robert@hutch.Rabbit.COM Malvern, PA 19355 !uunet!cbmvax!hutch!robert ------------------------------ From: Michael Nolan Subject: Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security Reply-To: nolan@helios.unl.edu Organization: University of Nebraska - Lincoln Date: 31 May 91 15:10:35 GMT alexb@cfctech.cfc.com (Alex Beylin) writes: > I've always wondered what they do with laptops that require AC power > to operate. Is there a three-prong AC plug at the security station? I've had to set my system up on the floor 10 or 15 feet away from the security station more than once in order to find a reachable plug. The really 'fun' experience I had was when I was carrying a Toshiba T1200 back from Dallas and had inadvertently drained the battery. Good thing I had the AC power pack in my carry-on bag! (This was last September, when security was REAL tight.) Michael Nolan nolan@helios.unl.edu ------------------------------ From: Colin Plumb Subject: Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security Date: Fri, 31 May 1991 16:19:31 -0400 Organization: Array Systems Computing, Inc., Toronto, Ontario, CANADA Anything with batteries in it could be a bomb. A portable computer is several pounds of unopenable case which X-rays will show as batteries, wires, and unidentifiable junk. This is a really good cover for an explosive device. Verifying that the thing does something is a good way to screen out the less technologically sophisticated. (Not that I expect anyone here to have any difficulty finding some inessential space in a portable computer if they wented to create a "working" bomb.) Colin ------------------------------ From: Floyd Davidson Subject: Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security Organization: University of Alaska Institute of Marine Science Date: Fri, 31 May 1991 07:06:28 GMT In article Alex Beylin writes: > They usually do the same when I try to carry a portable computer on > board. One of the security people always takes me to the side table > and asks to see the computer work. Once the lights come on, they let > me go. > I've always wondered what they do with laptops that require AC power > to operate. Is there a three-prong AC plug at the security station? As late as maybe 1985 they just wanted to look at it (a Kaypro-4), and obviously didn't know what it was. About '86-'87 or so there was a distinct change. They knew exactly what they wanted to see: some indication that it functioned (disk noise, lights, anything). Yes they always seem to know exactly where an outlet is and they don't hesitate. Floyd L. Davidson | Alascom, Inc. pays me, |UA Fairbanks Institute of Marine floyd@ims.alaska.edu| but not for opinions. |Science suffers me as a guest. ------------------------------ From: Floyd Davidson Subject: Re: Old Phone Museum Being Cranked Up Organization: University of Alaska Institute of Marine Science Date: Wed, 29 May 1991 14:30:28 GMT In article kentrox!bud@uunet.uu.net (Bud Couch) writes: > In article Ron acct069@uunet.uu.net> writes: >> The 5,400-square-foot building for the museum is being donated >> by Pacific Telecom Inc., a company in Vancouver, Wash., that owns both >> North-West Telecommunications and Cencom Inc., which operates some >> local phone companies in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. > Pacific Telecom also bought out the old RCA Alascom system, and is > "The Phone Company" in Alaska. Pacific Corp. (Portland, Ore.) owns Pacific Telecom (Vancouver, Wn.) which owns Alascom (the regulated long distance carrier), and a large percentage of the privately owned local telco's in Alaska! Telephone Utilities of the Northland, Telephone Utilies of ... I don't remember the names of them all. I believe they also use the TU name in Gig Harbor, WN. and Forks, WN. They own several local telco's in the Northwest. But ... the two largest local phone companies in Alaska are city owned: Anchorage Telephone Utilites, and Fairbanks Municipal Utilities. And there in is an interesting story. When Pacific Telecom bought what is now TU of the Northland, which serves much of the area just east of Fairbanks, the Alaska Public Utilites Commission told them something to the effect of: "Don't buy anymore. (Unless Fairbanks MUS is sold, which we would allow)." Now FMUS, being owned by a city, is not regulated by the PUC. I have no idea why the PUC thought then it would be a good idea if Pacific Telecom should be allowed to buy FMUS but nothing else. (It has not been up for sale; it makes the city too much money!) But that was years ago. In the last two or three years the hot item has been the Anchorage Telephone Utilities sale. The city would like to sell it. A couple years ago they put it up for bid. Pacific Telecom offered the only bid. It required 60% voter approval and got something like 58%; and so failed. In the process Pacific Telecom spent more money on advertising and on political donations in the state of Alaska than any other company for that particular year. (Considering the oil companies we have here, that is some chunk of money.) Now the mayor of Anchorage (Mr. Fink, no less) is trying again. The political fighting has been going hot and heavy. Some would say that PT already owns too much! Some would say they do such a fine job, let's give em more! And everything in between. The proposals in Anchorage for a bidding process have been everything from explicitly banning PT to allowing them to bid only if they sell off their inter-state business (originally the idea was that they would have to sell Alascom, which PT said *NO* thanks to, and lately it has meant they would have to sell off their major ownership of the fiber optic Pacific cable that is just now being put into service. That has not been rejected by PT.) Eventually it is very likely that PT will own the phone system in Anchorage. I don't know if that scares Alascom employees more or ATU employees more. Oh, also ... PT corporate profits last year were a record high. Disclaimer: I work for Alascom under a union contract. Floyd L. Davidson | Alascom, Inc. pays me, |UA Fairbanks Institute of Marine floyd@ims.alaska.edu| but not for opinions. |Science suffers me as a guest. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 17:42 PDT From: John Higdon Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: C&P Telephone "Anti-Slam" Flag and Amazing Service wts1 writes: > I called Saturday AM, and sure enough, the office was open! Anyone > know if this is just Southern Bell in NC, all of BellSouth, or other > RBOCs also? First Class! Pacific Bell has had Saturday business office hours for a couple of years, as much as it pains me to say it. But then what good does it do if there is nothing to offer :-) John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 May 91 18:43:31 -0700 From: David Gast Subject: Re: Thrfity Tel It seems that if TT is playing the ethical line (no pun intended) and at the same time is engaged in delivering intra-LATA calls against PUC rules, that they need to be set up and given a dose of their own medicine. The PUC should just confiscate all of their computers and forbid them from using a phone. David ------------------------------ From: David Ptasnik Subject: Re: Fax Memory Date: Fri, 31 May 91 8:32:13 PDT Ricoh fax machines with memory had this feature a couple of years ago, I assume that they still do. When a fax is sent to the machine, the sender can put in a security code. The fax is stored in the machine's memory, and will not be printed out until the proper security code is entered at the fax's keyboard. This was explained to me by a sales rep, and is kind of vague. I don't know how the problem of lost codes, etc. was dealt with. Another solution would be a fax board(s). The PC could be programmed any way you want it, callers could self direct to the correct PC if you are on a phone system with DISA, or you could use selective rings. There are lots and lots of relatively inexpensive options. As I remember, fax machines with memory were pretty pricy. I imagine a PC with a fax board and a security scheme would be cheaper. davep@u.washington.edu ------------------------------ From: Kral Subject: Re: Incoming Lines From Telco Organization: Digital Research Inc Date: Sat, 1 Jun 91 05:33:21 GMT In article HAMER524@ruby.vcu.edu (Robert M. Hamer) writes: > I can't find a network interface. Coming in from outside into the > basement is a line with what looks like perhaps 10 or 15 twisted > pairs. One of the pairs is connected to one of the old-fashioned > terminals (with four screw-type poles) to which all of our in-house > wiring is connected. I can't tell from your description if this is related or not, so take it for what it is worth... In the East Bay (ie Oakland and points east) area I've seen residential units where they string 12 twisted pair wires (not cables, wires, no sheathing!) throughout the house when it is built. Then you just tap on to the pair you want to consider active at each outlet. This lets you fix broken circuits, or have different circuits active at different outlets. This was in a house that was a rental, primarily to students. So it was not unusual to have four lines or more in the house, with each bedroom being on a different line. This setup made it pretty easy to do. kral * 408/647-6112 * ...!uunet!drivax!braun * braun@dri.com ------------------------------ From: Brian Kantor Subject: Re: Rotary Dial Phones Forgotten But Not Gone Date: 2 Jun 91 03:41:21 GMT Ken Oberman wondered when COs would stop supporting pulse-dial (rotary) phones. Well, PBX's already have; the UCSD Ericsson MD-110 will not allow an extension phone to pulse-dial any number with a "1" (one) in it -- it interprets the single pulse as a switchhook flash and gives you a fresh dialtone. Of course, all the campus analog phones have touch-tone dials. We didn't discover the problem until people tried dialing the local Telenet node with their modems, some of which were older models that couldn't use touch-tone dialing. Last I heard, a couple of years ago, they'd have it fixed real soon. Hmm. It just occured to me: when they convert the student dorms to use the Ericsson phone system in a couple of years, will the students who own cheap plastic pulse-dial phones be able to dial 911? Brian ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #415 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa11762; 2 Jun 91 15:55 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa14881; 2 Jun 91 14:29 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa11102; 2 Jun 91 13:24 CDT Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 12:33:23 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #416 BCC: Message-ID: <9106021233.ab10357@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sun, 2 Jun 91 12:33:20 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 416 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [Brian Charles Kohn] Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [Bill Huttig] Re: A Visitor Observes Phone Service in the UK [John Slater] Re: Looking for Inexpensive Outside Wire [Steve Gaarder] Re: Are Telco Profits Too Large? [Linc Madison] Re: Free Teletypes [Roy M. Silvernail] Homophobic Posting in Digest! (was NYNEX Pops the MPOP) [Andy Sherman] Re: Did Western Electric Also Make Sound Recordings? [William M. Hawkins] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 30 May 91 13:53:33 EDT From: Brian Charles Kohn Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Reply-To: "bicker@hoqax.ATT.COM" Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Quality Process Center > "When it arrives, you'll notice that your new card looks different. It > even has a DIFFERENT ACCOUNT NUMBER FROM YOUR CURRENT AT&T CARD. > (Emphasis added). In order to comply with government requirements, > AT&T is no longer sharing card numbers with your local telephone > company. Now, AT&T is issuing new card numbers that are exclusive to > AT&T." > So does this mean that we will all need to know at least *two* PIN > numbers now? Actually ... the new calling card number will be different from your phone number. It will be a new 14 digit number to remember. => And how is everyone supposed to know that "If it's a local call use my => BOC card, while if it's an inter-LATA call use my AT&T card"? How many => people actually can tell in advance what is a intra- compared to an => inter-LATA call? The word is that BOC card numbers won't work for LD calls, and LD card numbers won't work for local calls. When that transition is to happen I don't know. > Note that if I use MCI or Sprint, which have similar calling card > setups (via an 800 or 950 number), I can usually make INTRA and INTER > LATA calls on the same card, and even on the same call. (The charges > may be higher for INTRA LATA calls than what the BOC/GTE/local > companies charge, however). This has got to be either illegal or unfair. AT&T is not permitted to carry local phone calls. Not even a little. So MCI and Sprint shouldn't be allowed to either. > In the event than any AT&T Calling Card people area reading this, all > I can say is that this is quite disappointing. I bet you that the AT&T Calling Card people are more disappointed with it than you are. Disappointed that unscrupulous AOS services have made the government take this action. Brian Charles Kohn AT&T Bell Laboratories Quality Process Center Quality Management System E-MAIL: att!hoqax!bicker (bicker@hoqax.ATT.COM) Consultant PHONE: (908) 949-5850 FAX: (908) 949-7724 [Moderator's Note: This is just one more example of the unfairness which has riddled divestiture since the beginning. AT&T has been held to the most rigid of standards, while the 'others' are allowed to pretty much do as they please subject to a large enough stink being made that they have to reform a little -- but just a little. AT&T got to where they were after more than a century of experience, hard work and intelligent management ... and a judge comes along and rips them off without a second thought, based largely on his own prejudices. And let's face it: Greene had it in for AT&T from the beginning. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Bill Huttig Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Date: 31 May 91 16:02:26 GMT Reply-To: Bill Huttig Organization: Florida Institute of Technology, ACS, Melbourne, FL In article DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu (Douglas Scott Reuben) writes: > And how is everyone supposed to know that "If it's a local call use my > BOC card, while if it's an inter-LATA call use my AT&T card"? How many > people actually can tell in advance what is a intra- compared to an > inter-LATA call? From my understanding the new AT&T card can be use for IntraLATA calls with any Local carrier. The main reason is to protect you from getting charged by AOS's. I think by law the BOC/LEC numbers must be made available to all OCC's . Your BOC/LEC card should work using any carrier and will be billed on your local bill. OCC's can carry IntraLATA calls in some states but AT&T can not. AT&T said that they have problems with some of the LEC's accepting the new cards and the problem should be worked out shortly. Bill ------------------------------ From: John Slater Subject: Re: A Visitor Observes Phone Service in the UK Date: 31 May 91 15:35:17 GMT Reply-To: John.Slater@uk.sun.com Organization: Sun Microsystems UK In article , artinb@bottomdog.uk.sun.com (Martin Baines) writes: >> He has to dial an access number to get to the Mercury network. > Depends where you live and when you got your phone as to whether it is > Mercury compatible. If you live in an exchange that is digital (50% of > exchanges, 75% of the population) then all you need to get Mercury is > a tone phone. Not true, Marty. Availability of Mercury access is dependent on whether Mercury has got around to making service available yet. This in turn depends on how close geographically a switch is to Mercury's nationwide figure-of-eight fibre optic network. This may often correspond with digital exchanges, but not necessarily. > If you get a *new* phone from BT it may/may not be tone: > it seems to depend what they have in stock (any comments?). To the best of my knowledge all of BT's phones for sale have been dual-signalling for a couple of years or so. They're slowly getting round to promoting "Star Services" (call-waiting, redirection etc) and are installing as many tone-capable phones as they can. > If you live on a pulse exchange, to get Mercury you need a phone that > can change from pulse to tone in the middle of dialing: the pulses to > get to Mercury, then tones for your PIN and the number. True. Almost all phones sold in the UK that are capable of tone signalling have a fairly automatic way of doing this (in other words buttons for abbreviated dialling can be programmed to perform mixed dialling. E.g. in Hayes-speak : ATDP131T,1234567890 to access Mercury and dial account number and PIN). John Slater Sun Microsystems UK, Gatwick Office Disclaimer : I work for Marty Baines, so I have to be nice to him. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Jun 91 02:45:55 EDT From: gaarder@anarres.ithaca.ny.us Subject: Re: Looking for Inexpensive Outside Wire The following piece, which showed up in soc.culture.new-zealand, suggests one possible approach to my quest for a cheap way to run wire to a friend's house: > From: anorris@theory.TC.Cornell.EDU (Andrew Norris) > With respect to the tails about uses of no8, there was an real good > chapter in a Crump Book in which a character named 'Scratcher' had the > job of maintaining a 8 mile length of telephone line through the bush. > The PO provided him with copper wire, which he used to sew his boots and > cloths up with. The line was repaired with any junk he could lay his > hands on, including sardine cans and dog chain. But he knew what he was > doing as he confided in the central character, Bruce (?); > 'It can't be any old thing though, it has to be metal' BTW, I'm also looking for entrance blocks (lightning protectors) or sources for same. [ Pat, concerning your suggestion of going underground: A reasonable thing to suggest, since you live in the Midwest where the soil is soft and sandy. Here it's heavy clay, and, since it's through the woods, full of roots as well.] Steve Gaarder gaarder@theory.tc.cornell.edu gaarder@anarres.ithaca.ny.us [Moderator's Note: When I look at old photographs of Chicago, say from the 1900-1920 era, all I see in the sky are telephone poles and wires running everywhere. The wires criss-cross in all directions running up and down the streets, etc. And now, telephone poles, while not rare, are far less common here. In the downtown area you don't see one for blocks at a time. In the residential areas, we have poles in the alley behind the houses in many areas, but very few on the main streets. They have buried almost everything. Of course, there are offsets to this: For the past two weeks, Bell Avenue (the north/south street at the corner from where I live) has been torn up for several blocks, all the way from Roseland Cemetery north to Warren Park. Everyone is in on the act: I see trucks from People's Gas, IBT, and the Water and Sewer Works all out there every day, digging, laying new conduits, sewers, etc. They wake me at 6 AM when they start tearing up the street. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Jun 91 00:40:08 PDT From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Are Telco Profits Too Large? Martin Baines said in 11.409.7 that British Telecom made profits of #95/second or #3000 billion. Much discussion has ensued regarding the fact that the latter figure is more than 50 years U.S. GNP, etc. The answer to the dilemma is rather simple: the two figures do not equate to one another. #95/sec = #3000 MILLION/year = #3 billion/yr = US $5 billion/yr. For comparison, AT&T last year earned about US $2.7 billion. However, in 1981, 1982, and 1983, AT&T earned close to or more than US $7 billion per year. [Source: Value Line Investment Survey] The total profits of the "Baby Bells" for 1990, though, was in excess of US $9 billion. Add another $1.5 billion for GTE, and about a billion for MCI and Sprint combined, and a fraction of a billion for Centel, Cincinnati Bell, etc. So, all in all, US telephone companies reaped profits in the neighborhood of $12 billion for 1990. However, the US is more than 2.4 times the size of Britain, so BT's profits were about double the scale of US telephone companies. That gives you a little bit of a yardstick for comparing "excessive" profits. (BTW, 1990 profits for the Baby Bells ranged from a low of $1.13 billion for Pacific Telesis to a high of $1.695 billion for Bell South. Southern New England Telephone earned about $150 million, and I'm not sure whether or not that is included in NYNEX, but it doesn't materially affect my figures either way.) Linc Madison = linc@tongue1.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Free Teletypes From: "Roy M. Silvernail" Date: Sat, 01 Jun 91 13:16:03 CDT Organization: Villa CyberSpace, Minneapolis, MN floyd@ims.alaska.edu (Floyd Davidson) writes: [about teletype machines and radio stations] > It was usually "canned" sound. Nobody would really want to work > around that racket. The tty machines in well designed places were in > rooms with sound proofing, and nobody had to listen to them. When I was with Alaskan Forces radio in the mid 70's, the newsroom had five teletypes, with four running all the time. (AP, UPI, Reuters and the AFRTS newswire compilation) The poor news guy had to put up with it all the time. I don't recall the newscasts using teletype noise in the background there, as the news was actually delivered from an ajoining studio. Curiously enough, the simplest solution (of placing a mike in the teletype room) wouldn't have worked, since three of the four wires made their hourly local breaks at the top of the hour. At an earlier job with a Nome radio station, the teletype was in the tiny news studio, albeit inside a sound-deadening casing. The AP fed that machine, and the teletype in the background was real during newscasts. The same unpredictability about local breaks was evident, though ... sometimes, the teletype would be completely silent until the last seconds of the news. (This has strayed from telecom a bit, so I shan't rant on) Roy M. Silvernail |+| roy%cybrspc@cs.umn.edu [Moderator's Note: In the public telegraph offices of yester-year there would be usually a half-dozen or more machines. On rare instances, all would be silent for maybe ten or fifteen seconds; then there would be a soft whirring noise for a few seconds as one of the machines came on, and the click/clack would start again. PAT] ------------------------------ From: andys@ulysses.att.com Date: Sat, 1 Jun 91 18:11:26 EDT Subject: Homophobic Posting in Digest! (was NYNEX Pops the MPOP) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill In article is written: > AT&T does not come off looking well in this matter for its > limp-wristed way of handling it or notifying AT&T's customers, either. "Limp-wristed" is a rather offensive and homophobic term to use. I DARE you to walk into the gym at the Greenwich Village YMCA and a) call somebody there a limpwristed faggot or b) try to convince one of the gentlemen working out that being homosexual or effeminate means that you have no guts, strength or backbone, as your ignorant comment implies. Somebody with a homosexual orientation and the ability and desire to bench press twice your body weight would be happy to adjust your attitude for you. Please take your stereotypes to another list. > [Moderator's Note: Mr. Robert Allen no longer has any say-so over > what NYNEX wishes to do. And although you may call them limp-wristed > for their handling of this, you must realize that whenver AT&T does > attempt to push the LEC's one way or another, there is always someone > waiting in the wings to run crying to the Judge about AT&T being too > involved with the LECs. So this time, AT&T is handling the whole > thing at arm's length. PAT] Pat, while I appreciate your defense of our Corporate reputation, I am a little disappointed that you granted his heterosexist assumptions in your reply. If you think I'm nit-picking, ask yourself if you would have answered: "you may think that policy niggardly, but ..." or "you may think you were being Jewed down, but ..." Andy Sherman AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ andys@ulysses.att.com [Moderator's Note: Oh dear me, here come the flamers again ... detirmined to infest TELECOM Digest as bad they have the rest of the net. The fact that in your response you used 'limpwristed' as an adjective, or modifier for 'faggot' shows me you are aware the term can be used to describe any number of people and/or their actions *in addition to male homosexuals*. Or were you just being redundant, much like saying 'gay homosexual' or 'Department of Redundancy Department'? Your syntax confuses me. Describing a 'faggot' as limpwristed is your problem, not mine or that of the original author. You don't display very good vocabulary skills where 'niggardly' is concerned either. I think you have that word (adj./adv. meaning stingy or miserly; with its root in 'niggard' (n., probably Scandanavian in origin meaning a miser, or stingy person)) confused with 'nigger', a slang term whose root is in 'Niger', or a person from Niger(ia) which in current parlance or idiom is an ugly way of describing a black person. I agree 'faggot' is an ugly way to describe a gay person, but you in your wisdom appended it to 'limpwristed', not me. Please continue this over in alt.politics.homosexual or someplace where they relish flames and personal attacks, and expect to find homophobia, internalized or otherwise, lurking in every message. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 May 91 23:48:47 CDT From: "William M. Hawkins" Subject: Re: Did Western Electric Also Make Sound Recordings? I just returned from a visit to the Pavek Wireless Museum in a suburb of Minneapolis. It's a three year old museum with a major collection of wireless stuff. It also contains a Vitaphone Lathe, dated 1926, with a model number of WE D85249 (yes, it looks like a serial number, but that was on another plate). A single motor drives the turntable from one end and the lathe screw from the other. The placard says that Selsyns were used to couple the camera and the recording lathe. Selsyns are back to back three phase synchronous motors. Well, the transmitter is a generator and the receiver is a motor. So, that's how they synchronized sound and picture. Still, I didn't think a director could make a film a reel at a time, without cutting and splicing. Something had to be used for sound editing, to go with the film editing. The placard also said the lathe cut a 17.5 inch disk, which was used to press 16 inch copies. The disk on the turntable looked like metal, and the head looked like it could dig a serious groove in the metal. The 'card also said 33 RPM. Maybe they dropped the third of an RPM. Bill Hawkins, alias bill@bert.rosemount.com 612-895-6840 at work. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #416 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa14730; 2 Jun 91 17:02 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa18272; 2 Jun 91 15:35 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab14881; 2 Jun 91 14:30 CDT Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 13:49:09 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #417 BCC: Message-ID: <9106021349.ab13239@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sun, 2 Jun 91 13:49:06 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 417 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Administriva: New Modem In Use [TELECOM Moderator] Bell Atlantic Guardian Insurance Policy Text [Christopher Lott] GTE Mobilenet and 7D vs 10D vs 1+10D Dialing [Marty Brenneis] Surprise!! [Brian Gordon] Cellular Modem Wanted [Albert Pang] Strange AT&T Advertisement [Mark J. Christophel] PacBell Does Something Right [Donald Ekman] Re: International 800 Access [Jim Rees] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 13:11:08 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Administriva: New Modem In Use The Digest is now being produced each day using a new Telebit T-1600 modem. This 9600 baud model has a number of nice features, including callback security, error checking, v.32 compatibility and other things. Since most of the time the modem will be in interactive use; i.e. me at the terminal, typing in messages, editing other messages, etc, some aspects of the unit are not needed, such as Data Compression. But the big thing -- the most important from my point of view -- is the fourfold increase in speed where screen refreshes are concerned. I use Emacs to edit the Digest, and mmdf for the mail. The constant redrawing of the screen by the editor took a lot of time in the past. Now the redrawing is instant, as is the listing of messages in the queue. Previously, a list of several dozen messages to be reviewed took several seconds each time it was presented. This is no longer the case. It is just like being in the terminal room at NWU. The modem interfaces with my terminals (Wyse 50's) at 38,400 baud, so everything is now moving very fast and smooth. Baud rate selection is automatic, so the modem fits right in when calling other places at a slower speed. No baud rate adjustment by me is required. Also, an S-register allows automatic dialing of a preselected number whenever DTR goes high, or by pushing a single button on the front panel which is a nice convenience also. The modem was loaned to me for use with the Digest by two regular readers who suggested I leave their name out of print, and I am honoring their request ... but I want to publicly say thanks; and they will know who they are! PAT ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 May 91 14:35:06 -0400 From: Christopher Lott Subject: Bell Atlantic Guardian Insurance Policy Text Hi Pat, Hot off the flatbed scanner, here is the full text of the Bell Atlantic Guardian Insurance policy. The policy strikes me as more than a little vague -- for example, do they cover only their phones which you are renting, or any $8.99 phone which maybe you got free in some promotion? chris ... ---- TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE OPTIONAL WIRE MAINTENANCE PLAN AND BELL ATLANTIC GUARDIAN (sm) ENHANCED MAINTENANCE SERVICE The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company (hereinafter referred to as "C&P") offers the following wire maintenance plans: (l ) Optional Wire Maintenance Plan ("the Basic Plan"), and (2) Bell Atlantic Guardian (sm) Enhanced Maintenance Service. The following terms and conditions will govern the provision of these Plans. DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANS A. Optional Wire Maintenance Plan (the "Basic Plan"): This is an optional wire maintenance plan (hereafter referred to as the "Basic Plan") which includes the following service: In accordance with C&P's standard procedures, C&P will perform such repairs to the Customer's standard inside telephone wire and jack(s) (subject to the Plan Exclusions listed below) that become necessary and are reported to C&P while you are covered under this Plan. If a repairperson is dispatched to perform repairs to your inside wire or jack(s), and the problem is in your telephone or associated equipment rather than the wire or jacks, you may be required to pay a service charge for that visit at C&P's then-applicable rates. Guardian Plan: This plan provides you the same coverage as the Basic Plan, plus the following: In addition to the Basic Plan, if the trouble occurs in your telephone set, C&P will provide you a standard desk telephone for up to 60 days while you arrange to have your telephone set repaired or replaced. Also, you will not be billed a service charge when the problem is found to be in your telephone equipment and not your inside wire or jacks. If you have a permanently wired telephone without a standard telephone jack needed to use the loaner telephone, C&P will convert one telephone jack to modular free of charge. You will then be responsible for converting your telephone to modular or for acquiring a modular telephone to be used with the modular jack. Within 60 days, you must return the loaned telephone in accordance with C&P's then-applicable procedures. If you fail to return the loaned telephone as and when required, you may be billed at C&P's then-applicable rates for all costs and expenses associated with such failure. To request maintenance service under either of these Plans, the Customer should call the C&P repair service telephone number, or such other number as C&P may designate. CHARGES The current monthly charges for these two Plans are as follows: Basic Plan: $.85 per telephone line per month. Guardian Plan: $2.00 per telephone line per month. A one-time service order charge may also be billed, if applicable, when you order either of these Plans. The charges for these Plans are subject to change by C&P from time to time, as more fully described in the next paragraph. All charges, plus all applicable taxes, shall be due and payable upon Customer's receipt of the applicable bill. CHANGES IN MONTHLY CHARGES, TERMS AND CONDITIONS: THE CHARGES FOR THESE PLANS, AND ANY OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO THESE PLANS. MAY BE CHANGED BY C&P AT ANY TIME UPON AT LEAST THIRTY (30) DAYS' PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE (WHICH MAY BE IN THE FORM OF A BILL INSERT OR OTHER WRITTEN NOTIFICATION). THE PAYMENT OF APPLICABLE CHARGES BY THE CUSTOMER, OR A REQUEST FOR SERVICE UNDER THE PLANS, AFTER RECEIV- ING SUCH NOTICE OF A CHANGE IN THE CHARGES OR OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS WILL BE DEEMED TO BE ASSENT BY THE CUSTOMER TO THE CHANGE(S) IN THE CHARGES, TERMS OR CONDITIONS. IF THE CUSTOMER DOES NOT WISH TO CONTINUE RECEIVING THIS PLAN UNDER SUCH REVISED CHARGES, TERMS OR CONDITIONS, CUSTOMER MAY SIMPLY TERMINATE ITS PARTICIPATION UNDER THE PLAN AT ANY TIME UPON NOTICE TO C&P. LIMITED 90-DAY WARRANTY C&P warrants for a period of 90 days that these services and products will meet accepted industry practices and be free from defects in materials or workmanship. Should any failure to conform to this warranty appear and be reported to C&P within said 90-day period, C&P shall reperform the nonconforming services, and repair or replace the nonconforming product(s). Such reperformance of work and repair or replacement of nonconforming products shall constitute the entire liability of C&P and sole remedy of the Customer under this warranty, whether claim or remedy is sought in contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability, or otherwise. THE FOREGOING WARRANTIES ARE EXCLUSIVE AND IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, WHETHER WRITTEN OR IMPLIED, IN FACT OR IN LAW. C&P DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY THE LIABILITY, IF ANY, OF C&P AND ITS EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS TO THE CUSTOMER OR TO ANY OTHER PERSON FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE PROVISION OF OR FAILURE TO PROVIDE SERVICE UNDER THESE PLANS, OR FROM ANY FAULT. FAILURE, DEFECT OR DEFICIENCY IN ANY SERVICE, LABOR. MATERIAL, WORK OR PRODUCT FURNISHED IN CONNECTION WITH THESE PLANS, SHALL BE LIMITED TO AN AMOUNT NOT IN EXCESS OF $500.00. IN NO EVENT, HOWEVER, SHALL C&P OR ITS EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR SPECIAL, INDIRECT. INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE PROVISION OF OR FAILURE TO PROVIDE SERVICE UNDER THESE PLANS, OR FROM ANY FAULT, FAILURE, DEFECT OR DEFICIENCY IN ANY SERVICE, LABOR, MATERIAL, WORK OR PRODUCT FURNISHED IN CONNECTION WITH THESE PLANS (SUCH AS, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, TELEPHONE SERVICE OUTAGES AND ANY LOSS OF USE OF WIRING, JACKS OR TELEPHONE EQUIPMENT, AND ANY DAMAGES RESULTING THEREFROM). THESE LIMITATIONS OF AND EXCLUSIONS FROM LIABILITY SHALL APPLY REGARDLESS OF WHETHER A CLAIM OR REMEDY IS SOUGHT IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE AND STRICT LIABILITY). OR OTHERWISE. PLAN ELIGIBILITY These Plans are offered only to C&P's residence telephone Customers who use only standard single line telephone set(s). The Plans are not available to Customers with multi-line telephone equipment, systems or services (such as multi-line sets associated with common equipment, key telephone systems, Centrex service. private branch exchange (PBX) equipment). EXCLUSIONS The Plans do not apply to: (1 ) wire larger than 8-pair, unless otherwise expressly agreed by C&P: (2) wire or jack malfunctions or problems which arise prior to the commencement of the Customer's coverage under the Plan, or which are caused by abuse. acts of third parties, fire, or natural disaster; (3) inside telephone wiring and jack(s) which are non standard or do not comply with Part 68 of the Federal Communications Commission Rules: (4) wire or jacks which at the commencement of coverage are not in satisfactory condition or fail to meet C&P's technical standards: (5) wire located outside of the Customer's living unit in multi-tenant buildings: (6) restoration of your premises if you ask C&P to repair concealed wire: and (7) repair of the Customer's telephones or other premises equipment. TERMINATION The Customer may terminate participation in either Plan at any time simply by notifying C&P's local business office (or such other number that C&P may designate for such purpose). C&P may terminate the Customer's participation in these Plans without cause only upon thirty (30) days prior notice to Customer, but may terminate or suspend Plan participation at any time in the event Customer fails to pay all applicable charges when due. EFFECTIVE DATE Commencement and termination of coverage under either Plan shall be effective on a date to be determined by C&P, which shall not be more than 30 days after C&P receives the Customer's request(s) to commence or terminate the Plan. GENERAL PROVISIONS In the event that any of the provisions of this Agreement shall be invalid or unenforceable such invalidity or unenforceability shall not invalidate or render unenforceable any other provision of this Agreement, and this Agreement shall be construed as if it did not contain such invalid or unenforceable provision. C&P shall not be liable for any delay or failure to perform its obligations if such delay or nonperformance arises in connection with any acts of God, fires, floods, strikes or other labor disputes, unusually severe weather, acts of any governmental body, or any other cause beyond the reasonable control of C&P. C&P Telephone A Bell Atlantic Company SSI# 700 219 421 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 May 91 07:33:59 PDT From: Marty the Droid Subject: GTE Mobilenet and 7D vs 10D vs 1+10D Dialing I just tried some test calls on my GTE Mobilenet cellphone in the SF area. My number is in the 415 area. I tried calling 389-xxxx, 415-389-xxxx and 1+415-389-xxxx. All three calls went thru without a glitch. This functionality coupled with least cost routing on LD calls makes GTE look even better than $ellularOne. If only the GTE landwire folks could be run this well. Marty 'The Droid' Brenneis ...!uupsi!kerner!droid Industrial Magician droid@kerner.sf.ca.us (415)258-2105 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Jun 91 21:28:37 PDT From: Brian Gordon Subject: Surprise!! The good news is that, as of today, 01 Jun 91, PacBell has expanded its local calling area, so I can call work, for example, without incurring toll charges. The bad news is that, without notice, the "permissive" 1-plus dialing has stopped working. The normal dialing from 408 has been, for example, just 415-336-xxxx. It was permissible, however, to dial 1-415-336-xxxx, which, I presume, will someday become the norm. As of this morning, using the "1-" form reaches a reorder tone ... Doncha' just love those guys? ------------------------------ From: Albert Pang Subject: Cellular Modem Wanted Organization: INSL, McGill University, Montreal, Canada Date: Fri, 31 May 1991 21:54:18 GMT Does a Cellular Modem (as in cellular telephone with a RS232 connection) exist? Albert Pang albert@brahms.insl.mcgill.ca> Information Networks & Systems Lab McGill University ------------------------------ From: "Mark J. Christophel" Subject: Strange AT&T Advertisement Date: Tue, 28 May 91 11:02:33 EDT This is my first post, although I am a regular reader: The following advertisement appeared in last week's (Thursday, May 23) {Sun-Sentinel}. It was a small ad on one of the last pages of the newspaper. NOTICE TO AT&T CUSTOMERS ------------------------ AT&T filed with the Federal Communications Commission on May 17, 1991, new tax factors to recover gross receipts taxes imposed by certain states on interstate telecommunications services. The factor scheduled to become effective on July 1, 1991, in Florida is 2.25%. These surcharges will apply to the interstate charges of AT&T Long Distance, AT&T Reach Out(R) America, AT&T AnyHour Saver(Sm) Plan, AT&T SelectSaver(Sm) Plan, AT&T WATS and AT&T 800 Service, AT&T 800 READYLINE(R), AT&T PRO(Sm) WATS, AT&T MEGACOM(R) and MEGACOM 800 Services, AT&T Software Defined Network Service, AT&T International Long Distance and AT&T 900 Service. Mark J. Christophel rm1!mjc OR mjc@rm1 (305) 846-6873 [M. Christophel, Racal-Milgo, MS E112, Box 407044, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33340] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 May 91 21:54:59 PDT From: Donald Ekman Subject: PacBell Does Something Right Today Pacific Bell came to my house to install the second line that I ordered two days ago. They replaced the old cable from the pole to the house with a new, two-line cable. They replaced the old box with the new "Telephone Network Interface," which is a box in which my internal lines connect to a terminal block, which, in turn, connects to the telco line via a modular jack and plug. Just the thing for isolating problems to either my in-house wiring, or the telco line. It took exactly five minutes to connect my modem to the new line, and another two minutes to test the whole thing. Pac Bell, for once, did something right. You see this, John Higdon? :-) Donald E. Ekman | Disclaimer: Loral Space Systems/Loral | doesn't think I have Palo Alto, CA USA | any opinions. They ekman@wdl30.wdl.loral.com | are probably right. ------------------------------ From: rees@pisa.citi.umich.edu (Jim Rees) Subject: Re: International 800 Access Reply-To: rees@citi.umich.edu (Jim Rees) Organization: University of Michigan IFS Project Date: Fri, 31 May 91 15:30:19 GMT In article , Ken Jongsma writes: > For what it's worth: Two years ago, I was in Australia and was unable > to use USA Direct to reach a domestic US 800 number. However, several > months ago, I was in the UK and had no problems with USA Direct. Does USA Direct take Visa? Last time I tried this, they only took AT&T cards, so if you didn't have an account with AT&T you were out of luck. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #417 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa03064; 3 Jun 91 0:11 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa03470; 2 Jun 91 22:42 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa01877; 2 Jun 91 21:35 CDT Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 21:30:27 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #418 BCC: Message-ID: <9106022130.ab00130@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Sun, 2 Jun 91 21:30:14 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 418 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson That Toddlin' Town Named the Ohm, Too! [Donald E. Kimberlin] Movie Review: The President's Analyst [Rob Boudrie] Re: Surprise!! [Brent Chapman] Re: Surprise!! [Bill Woodcock] Re: Cellular Harrassment at Airport Security [Fred E.J. Linton] Re: Modification of Ringback Tone by Subscriber Apparatus [Rick Broadhead] Re: Looking for Inexpensive Outside Wire [Patton M. Turner] Re: Free Teletypes [David Lesher] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 11:09 GMT From: "Donald E. Kimberlin" <0004133373@mcimail.com> Subject: That Toddlin' Town Named the Ohm, Too! We can all hum that song made so popular by several singers up to the inimitable Frank Sinatra. Through it, we can see Chicagoans have always known how to "party hearty." That's often our first thought about Chicago and what goes on thre. Great convention town, as many of us know from direct experience. Somehow, despite evidence that most of the early developers of telecommunications devices in America started in Chicago's environs, we never get a focus on the status of Chicago's contributions to our technology. It must have been a significant focus, for Chicago is also the birthplace of every basic unit of electrical measurement the world uses. Here's a quotation from Percy Dunsheath's "A History of Electrical Engineering," (Faber & Faber, London, 1962, pp. 302-303): "At the International Electrical Exposition held in Paris in 1881 much dissatisfaction with the postion was expressed by practical electrical engineers, who were still using widely `Weber' to denote the unit of current, measuring electrical pressure in terms of the equivalent number of Daniell cells and resistance in terms of miles of telegraph wire" "and the new names ampere, volt and ohm were adopted." "In 1891 the Board of Trade set up a Standards Committee `for the measurement of electricity for use in trade' which adopted the C.G.S. system of electrical units with the values of units determined by the original British Association Committee and adopted the names which that Committee had proposed: ohm, ampere, volt for the units of electrical resistance, electric current and electric pressure." "Two years later an important International Electrical Congress was held in Chicago under the presidency of Helmholtz with Britain represented by Preece, Ayrton, Silvanus Thompson and Alexander Siemens. "This Congress recommended the following as legal units: "RESISTANCE. The Internationa Ohm based upon the ohm equal to 10e9 units of resistance of the C.G.S. system of electromagnetic units represented by the resistance to an unvarying current by a column of mercury at the temperature of melting ice 14.4521 grams in mass of a constant cross section and a length of 106.3 cm. "CURRENT. The International Ampere, one-tenth of the unit of current of the C.G.S. unit represented by the current which when passed through a solution of nitrate of silver deposits silver at the rate of 0.001118 of a gram per second. "ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE. The International Volt, which is the electromotive force that steadily applied will produce a current of one International Ampere represented by 1000/1434 of the electromotive force of a Clark's cell at 15 degrees Centigrade. "The unit of quantity, the International Coulomb, was that quantity transferred by one International Ampere fowing for one second. "The unit of capacity, the International Farad, was the capacity of a condenser which a charge of one International Coulomb would raise by one International Volt. "The unit of work, the International Joule, was 10e7 units of work in the C.G.S. system or the energy expended when one International Ampere flows through a resistance of one International Ohm for one second. "The unit of power, the International Watt, 10e7 units in the C.G.S. system or the power when the expenditure of energy is at the rate of one International Joule per second. "The unit of induction, the International Henry, or the induction in a circuit when a pressure of one International Volt is induced by a change of one International Ampere per second." Shortly later, Dunsheath writes, "By this time" (1908) the same units of resistance, current and e.m.f. had been adopted by all the principal countries if the world." (For those interested, these International units are ten times larger than what we use everyday, which are called the "practical units," based on the M.K.S. system of measurement instead of the C.G.S. system used in the basic physics laboratory. We signify the practical units by NOT capitalizing their names, while the larger International Units are capitalized. But be careful: Some units, like the Baud, are used as internationally standardized and are capitalized anyway. However, not only do telecomm people almost always write the term Baud incorrectly, they typically horrobly misuse it, anyway. Your 2400 bps modem does NOT transmit or receive 2400 "Baud," unless you want to play word games about it doing so because it's operating full duplex! Regardless, your 9600 NEVER transmits 9600 "Baud" in any event.) While the units named in Chicago have undergone slight adjustment in the intervening century, they remain the units we all use daily in any aspect of telecommunications work. And I'll bet those famous heads of science who met in Chicago in 1893 enjoyed the fabled hospitality and great steaks of That Toddlin' Town, as well! ------------------------------ From: Rob Boudrie Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 00:28:21 EDT Subject: Movie Review: The President's Analyst "The President's Analyst" is an old (early 70's I think, but I may be off) movie starring James Coburn. The President has a psychiatrist, James Coburn, who is targeted for kidnapping by TPC. The shrink is in a fone booth and the door locks behind him, at which time a telco truck drives up and loads the locked booth with Coburn in it onto the back of the truck. The truck driuves to telco headquarters (somewhere in NJ, I assume), and the phone booth (with Coburn in it) is placed on a conveyor belt taking him past displays of the wonders of telco technology. The best part is the movie they force him to watch -- done in true "public utility PR style" talking about the tremendous benefits of the fone chip they want implanted in every newborn's brain. This will allow all the implanted people to call any other implanted person merely by thinking of that person's number and thinking the communication (sort of the ultimate "follow me roaming"). Seeing this movie is a must for anyone who has ever had an interest in telecom, especially those us of dating from the days of TAP. I don't remember how it turned out, and it was mediocre as movies go, *BUT* the true to life nature of the telco promo movies in it was hilarious. If anyone remembers other funny or remarkable scenes from the film, please post them. Rob Boudrie rboudrie@encore.com ------------------------------ From: Brent Chapman Subject: Re: Surprise!! Organization: Telebit Corporation; Sunnyvale, CA, USA Date: Sun, 2 Jun 1991 19:18:03 GMT Brian Gordon writes: > The good news is that, as of today, 01 Jun 91, PacBell has expanded its > local calling area, so I can call work, for example, without incurring > toll charges. > The bad news is that, without notice, the "permissive" 1-plus dialing > has stopped working. The normal dialing from 408 has been, for > example, just 415-336-xxxx. It was permissible, however, to dial > 1-415-336-xxxx, which, I presume, will someday become the norm. As of > this morning, using the "1-" form reaches a reorder tone ... > Doncha' just love those guys? Either PacBell already corrected this problem, or else it's something isolated to your local switch or PBX. I live and work just on the 408 side of the 415/408 border, while most of my friends live and work in 415. I habitually dial "1-415-xxx-yyyy". I made several calls from 408-745 to 415 yesterday (June 1) without any problems, and I just now explicitly verified that both "1-415-xxx-yyyy" and "415-xxx-yyyy" work from my home phone (408-745). Are you sure this one is PacBell's fault? Brent Chapman Telebit Corporation Sun Network Specialist 1315 Chesapeake Terrace brent@telebit.com Sunnyvale, CA 94089 Phone: 408/745-3264 [Moderator's Note: Incidentally Brent, I *love* your company's new T-1600 modem. It is working out quite well here at Digest HQ. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Bill Woodcock Subject: Re: Surprise!! Date: 2 Jun 91 19:41:17 GMT Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz; Open Access Computing Brian.Gordon@eng.sun.com writes: > The bad news is that, without notice, the "permissive" 1-plus dialing > has stopped working. The normal dialing from 408 has been, for > example, just 415-336-xxxx. It was permissible, however, to dial > 1-415-336-xxxx, which, I presume, will someday become the norm. As of > this morning, using the "1-" form reaches a reorder tone ... > Doncha' just love those guys? Whew. Well, I just tried from my phone in Santa Cruz (408-425-XXX) to my phone in Berkeley (415-843-XXXX) and got through with the 1-plus dialing, but got the "Sorry, but you must first dial a one..." when I tried without. But then I have to dial a 1+7D to get to San Jose, too, and 1+408+7D _doesn't_ work. :-) Yeah, I just can't get enough of that great Pac*Bel logic either. Does this mean that after the 415/510 split, we'll be getting free unlimited calls to a _different area code_ if we have flat-rate service, and are calling back and forth from SF to the East Bay? Does that happen anywhere else? Bill Woodcock BMUG NetAdmin bill.woodcock.iv..woody@ucscb.ucsc.edu 2355.virginia.st..berkeley.ca.94709.1315 [Moderator's Note: Although we do not get flat-rate service, we do get untimed local calls within an eight-mile radius for about four cents each. Many subscribers have a mix of 312/708 in their local area, and I think Centel gives their Park Ridge/Des Plaines customers flat rate unlimited service into IBT's Chicago-Newcastle and Chicago-Ohare COs. Also, the far south side of Chicago (312) and the extreme northeast corner of the southern suburbs (708) get local untimed calls back and forth to each other as well as to selected places in 219; ie, Hammond/ Whiting. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 2-JUN-1991 15:37:55.87 From: "Fred E.J. Linton" Subject: Re: Cellular Harrassment at Airport Security In article alexb@cfctech.cfc.com (Alex Beylin) writes: > I've always wondered what they do with laptops that require AC > power to operate. Is there a three-prong AC plug at the security > station? There certainly was one at the security station that wanted to check out the little immersion heater I carry for boiling water to brew tea in motels in strange towns -- when I pointed out that the heater would quickly self-destruct if it were not immersed in water while plugged in, the agent concerned with me had a colleague dutifully fetch some water, too. There's no end of conveniences available at those stations :-) . Fred or ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 Jun 91 16:30:38 EDT From: Rick Broadhead Subject: Re: Modification of Ringback Tone by Subscriber Apparatus In Vol. 11, Issue 413, dave@westmark.westmark.com (Dave Levenson) writes: > Were you calling a commercial establishment? A college dorm or campus? > Some other place where you were dialing directly to an extension of a large > private network? To answer your question: I heard the double-ring when calling the "Management Services" department at Toronto City Hall. Rick Broadhead ysar1111@VM1.YorkU.CA ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 16:18:19 CDT From: "Patton M. Turner" Subject: Re: Looking for Inexpensive Outside Wire Steve Gaarder writes: > [ Pat, concerning your suggestion of going underground: A reasonable > thing to suggest, since you live in the Midwest where the soil is soft > and sandy. Here it's heavy clay, and, since it's through the woods, > full of roots as well.] Try renting a small drop plow or trencher (ditch witch). I think I'd prefer the trencher over a vibratory plow if you think you will run into roots. > BTW, I'm also looking for entrance blocks (lightning protectors) or > sources for same. Absolutely, if I remember you are going to use the lines for data com (not RS-232 I hope, at that distance). Many serial ports use CMOS chips which are extremely sensitive to static electricity. Last month lightning damaged several serial ports on the engineering Sun network here at Auburn, even though the cable runs were fairly short (but unshelded). I think Specialized Products Corp. carries gas discharge protectors built into a DB25 connector. As far as wire, I think C-wire (drop wire) is hard to beat if you are going to use unshelded cable. It can be run overhead or plowed in the ground. ------------------------------ From: David Lesher Subject: Re: Free Teletypes Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 18:56:07 EDT Reply-To: David Lesher Organization: NRK Clinic for habitual NetNews abusers [about teletype machines and radio stations] I know two stories about news TTY's, from different era's, but with common threads: 1945 {The Cleveland Press}, like any other paper of its time, had many machines. There was the A wire, the sports, etc. etc. Well, they sat next to each other in the City Room, and made non-stop noise. If one was stopped, another three were sure to be running. You just ignored it. If the circuits died, they ran 'open' (clacking but not printing anything) until the loop was fixed. But late that summer, they ALL stopped at once. Dead. The silence was so profound that everyone in the building knew about it at once. Silence continued. After an interval described by one there as "seemingly hours later" but likely only a minute or so, they ALL restarted with the same message -- the war was over. 1970's. At a classical music station of some fame, located on a river with the same name as the Prince of Wales (hint;-}) the machine sat way in the back of the station, in a semi-soundproof phonebooth sized chamber. Now, news is not the forte of classical music stations. If fact, if it were not for some FCC rule I'm sure John Hignon can quote, they'd do away with it entirely. So for the three daily newscasts, the 'voice' would run back, rip off the previous four + hours of stuff, and choose an article or two. Of course, you got time for this task at about 30 seconds before the hour ;_] But that day, somebody at Cheyenne Mountain had loaded and fed, not the weekly NORAD test tape, but the WAR! one. Confusion reigned across the US as the wrong code was used to cancel the bogus message. Some stations ignored it. Others followed the law and went off the air ASAP. The lead station in "our fair city" [the one that the others have CONALRAD receivers tuned to] choose to ignore it. It took hours to straighten out. Can you imagine the look on the personality who finds a forest of paper on the machine, most of which indicates that the USA has been at war for four + hours, and Wxxx is still on the air? Gulp. wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (305) 255-RTFM ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #418 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa03204; 3 Jun 91 23:49 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa24463; 3 Jun 91 20:55 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa30616; 3 Jun 91 19:49 CDT Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 19:46:09 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #419 BCC: Message-ID: <9106031946.ab07870@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Mon, 3 Jun 91 19:45:45 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 419 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Surprise!! [John Higdon] Re: Surprise!! [Roger Fajman] Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [Steve Bellovin] Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [Skip Collins] Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [A. Satish Pai] Re: Did Western Electric Also Make Sound Recordings? [Scott Dorsey] Re: Homebrew Networking [Brad Hicks] Re: Looking for Inexpensive Outside Wire [Bill Nickless] Re: Two Beepers, One Number [Darren Alex Griffiths] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 20:14 PDT From: John Higdon Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: Surprise!! Brian Gordon writes: > The bad news is that, without notice, the "permissive" 1-plus dialing > has stopped working. This is a programming problem in your individual CO. There would be no reason to block the permissive '1' in calling long distance. A '1' is still permitted (but not required) from my 408 telephones. Bill Woodcock writes: > Yeah, I just can't get enough of that great Pac*Bel logic either. > Does this mean that after the 415/510 split, we'll be getting free > unlimited calls to a _different area code_ if we have flat-rate > service, and are calling back and forth from SF to the East Bay? Does > that happen anywhere else? Frequently. As a matter of fact, Mountain View and Los Altos (415) are Zone 1 (local) to San Jose 2 (408). Southern Fremont (415) is local to San Jose 1 (408). In both cases, the full ten (or eleven in the case of calls from 415) digits must be dialed to complete a LOCAL call. And yes, if you have unmeasured residence service the call is free. This also is the case in many places in the Los Angeles area, and in many other places around the country, as Pat suggests. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: Roger Fajman Date: Mon, 03 Jun 91 19:24:33 EDT Subject: Re: Surprise!! > Yeah, I just can't get enough of that great Pac*Bel logic either. > Does this mean that after the 415/510 split, we'll be getting free > unlimited calls to a _different area code_ if we have flat-rate > service, and are calling back and forth from SF to the East Bay? Does > that happen anywhere else? Here in the Washington, DC, area we have flat rate local calling among three area codes (202, 301, 703). We also have a quite large local calling area centered around DC and including much of the Maryland and Virginia suburbs. Unfortunately, it is flattened in the northwest and so does not include my home in Ashton, MD. :-( However, when the 301 area code splits, I will be able to dial local calls to three area codes from there too. Here we now have to dial the area code in front of a local call to another area code. When that went into effect, a 1 in front of the area code would not be accepted. However, I just tried a few calls and found that the 1 seems to be optional now. I also found that I could also prefix a local call in my own area code with 1 and the area code, which also did not work before. I was doing this from a Centrex line on the 301-402 exchange. It might work differently elsewhere. Roger Fajman Telephone: +1 301 402 1246 National Institutes of Health BITNET: RAF@NIHCU Bethesda, Maryland, USA Internet: RAF@CU.NIH.GOV ------------------------------ From: Steve Bellovin Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Date: 3 Jun 91 20:10:32 GMT Reply-To: Andy Sherman Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ In article , DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu (Douglas Scott Reuben) writes: > So does this mean that we will all need to know at least *two* PIN > numbers now? > And how is everyone supposed to know that "If it's a local call use my > BOC card, while if it's an inter-LATA call use my AT&T card"? How many > people actually can tell in advance what is a intra- compared to an > inter-LATA call? Caveat: this is not authoritative, but I did ask somebody about this. Right now, the LECs supply card verification services to the IECs. With the new cards, that relationship will be reversed. AT&T will supply card verification service to the LECs for an intra-LATA call billed to an AT&T Card. This is already being done by the Universal Card people. You can bill intra-LATA calls to your Universal Card, but without the 10% discount applied to AT&T calls. Note that AT&T will *NOT* be providing card verification to other interexchange carriers. This should deal with the oft-expressed concerns of our customers that they not be billed by an AOS for calls placed on an AT&T Card. I hope this sets your mind at ease. > Now I don't consider my friends, parents, and relatives to be all that > ignorant on how to use a telephone, but I just can't see how THIS is > going to be explained to them by AT&T and/or the BOCs. AT&T and the > BOCs sure didn't do a good job when it came to warning people about > AOSs until quite late in the game; I am wondering how much more > confusion this nonsense will cause. Tell them to use their AT&T Card. Period. Andy Sherman/AT&T Bell Laboratories/Murray Hill, NJ AUDIBLE: (908) 582-5928 READABLE: andys@ulysses.att.com or att!ulysses!andys What? Me speak for AT&T? You must be joking! ------------------------------ From: Skip Collins Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Date: 3 Jun 91 19:30:03 GMT Organization: JHU/APL, Laurel, MD DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu (Douglas Scott Reuben) writes: > So does this mean that we will all need to know at least *two* PIN > numbers now? Why don't the telephone companies allow customers to *choose* their own PINs, as some banks now do for their ATM cards. More than one sequence of 14 digits would be hard for many people to remember. If it is illegal for local and long-distance carriers to exchange and coordinate such matters, why aren't consumers given the option to make their own lives simpler? Just a thought. Skip Collins, collins@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu ------------------------------ From: "A. Satish Pai" Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Reply-To: "A. Satish Pai" Organization: Yale University Computer Science Dept., New Haven CT 06520, USA Date: Mon, 3 Jun 1991 15:46:34 GMT [Brian = bicker@hoqax.att.com (Brian Charles Kohn). SE = someone else.] SE> "When it arrives, you'll notice that your new card looks different. SE> It even has a DIFFERENT ACCOUNT NUMBER FROM YOUR CURRENT AT&T CARD. SE> (Emphasis added). In order to comply with government requirements, SE> AT&T is no longer sharing card numbers with your local telephone SE> company. Now, AT&T is issuing new card numbers that are exclusive to SE> AT&T." SE> So does this mean that we will all need to know at least *two* PIN SE> numbers now? Brian> Actually ... the new calling card number will be different from ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Brian> your phone number. It will be a new 14 digit number to ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Brian> remember. I don't understand the above statement. My Calling Card (issued two years ago) has a number that is not my home or other phone number (in fact I didn't have residential phone service when I applied for the card). I've seen promotional literature from AT&T saying explicitly that you don't need to have a phone number of your own to get the card. And the number has 14 digits, too (except that they're all on the card, there is no PIN, unlike the Universal Card). So what's the difference from the older cards? One thing different that I _have_ seen (in pictures of the new card in ads) is that the "international number" seems to have an extra six digits prefixed to it compared to the one on the older cards, and there is a two-digit "authorization code" also on the card. Since I haven't got any notification from AT&T about my Calling Card, I presume that I can still use my card according to the instructions I received when I got it. Does this mean, then, that there are actually two different ways of calling internationally with AT&T cards? What are the extra digits there for on the newer cards? Satish Internet: Pai-Satish@CS.Yale.Edu | A. Satish Pai UUCP: ...!{uunet,harvard,decvax,ucbvax}!yale!pai | Bitnet: Pai@YaleCS | +1 203 432 1286 [Off.] Mail: Box 2158, Yale Station, New Haven, CT 06520 | +1 203 436 2061 [Res.] ------------------------------ From: Scott Dorsey Subject: Re: Did Western Electric Also Make Sound Recordings? Reply-To: Scott Dorsey Organization: NASA Langley Research Center Date: Mon, 3 Jun 1991 13:01:31 GMT In article bill@rose3.rosemount.com (William M. Hawkins) writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 416, Message 8 of 8 > I just returned from a visit to the Pavek Wireless Museum in a suburb > of Minneapolis. It's a three year old museum with a major collection > of wireless stuff. It also contains a Vitaphone Lathe, dated 1926, > with a model number of WE D85249 (yes, it looks like a serial number, > but that was on another plate). A single motor drives the turntable > from one end and the lathe screw from the other. The placard says > that Selsyns were used to couple the camera and the recording lathe. > Selsyns are back to back three phase synchronous motors. Well, the > transmitter is a generator and the receiver is a motor. So, that's > how they synchronized sound and picture. Still, I didn't think a > director could make a film a reel at a time, without cutting and > splicing. Something had to be used for sound editing, to go with the > film editing. Yup. The projector actually had mechanical coupling, but the recording was done with a selsyn arrangement. Some of the earlier Vitaphone lathes just had a 60 Hz synchronous motor which would synchronize with the indentical motor on the camera, by virtue of their being on the same power line. Because the loads were different, though, the motor slip was different and they didn't stay synched too well. Sound editing was done with a bank of synchronized turntables, a mixer, and a synchronized cutting lathe. Scenes would be shot with three cameras all synched together, and the film edited seperately, but maintaining the same length and pattern so that the edited film would stay in synch with the sound. Often scenes really would last for a full reel, and the scenes were shot all in one take with no editing within. > The placard also said the lathe cut a 17.5 inch disk, which was used > to press 16 inch copies. The disk on the turntable looked like metal, > and the head looked like it could dig a serious groove in the metal. > The 'card also said 33 RPM. Maybe they dropped the third of an RPM. The disk was a sheet of aluminum with a nitrate or acetate coating on it. There are also some glass transcription discs out there with similar coatings, though I don't believe they were used for Vitaphone. Makes me glad I live in the 1990's, with my nifty Nagra. Or is this the 1960's? Something like that. scott ------------------------------ Date: 03 Jun 91 10:16:59 EDT From: "76012,300 Brad Hicks" <76012.300@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: Homebrew Networking > Is this illegal? ... Will they eventually get really p-o'ed at me? This exact question came up in the news less than a year ago, less than a hundred miles from me. A guy in central Missouri figured out a deal by which he could get lower intraLATA rates by hopscotching once, and set himself up to do it. Then he got REALLY creative: he put some kind of multiplexor on each end so that up to eight conversations could ride the same circuit, and "sold" access to the other seven pseudo-circuites, openly and publicly, to people in his part of the state. The savings for them was something like 30% or 50% off of standard intraLATA charges from SWBT. When they finally caught on to this (the mills of bureaucracy grind slowly), Southwestern Bell gave birth to a porcupine with all attendant sound effects, and hit the guy with about a dozen lawyers. If memory serves, the final settlement gave them the right to charge him enough extra to make it uneconomical, but not the right to recover damages. IMPORTANT NOTE: Almost all of the above is from dim memory. To get an accurate account, call the St. Louis Post-Disposal (excuse me, Post-Dispatch) or the St. Louis Riverfront Slimes (excuse me, Times) and ask them for a copy of their articles on the subject. (Front page stuff in both papers.) It's late, and I don't have a phone book handy; you can get both numbers from (314) 555-1212, of course. Or maybe somebody here knows the full story? [For direct replies, save me a lot of money and use jbhicks@mcimail.com; CI$ is just easier for me to hit via the company QuickMail system.] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 11:09:06 CDT From: Bill Nickless Subject: Re: Looking for Inexpensive Outside Wire When you find the right wire and tools and get ready to do the job, don't forget to contact the appropriate utilities so they can tell you where the 25 kilovolt electric main is buried on your property, or the 128-fiber AT&T AT&T Long Lines trunk. Bill Nickless nickless@andrews.edu or nickless@flash.ras.anl.gov (708) 972-7390 or (616) 927-0982 ------------------------------ From: Darren Alex Griffiths Subject: Re: Two Beepers, One Number Date: 3 Jun 91 15:09:40 GMT Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA In article levitt@zorro9.fidonet.org (Ken Levitt) writes: > I own two Motorola digital pagers type BPR2000 Model A03BGB4661C. One > of them is currently receiving messages from a local beeper provider > and the other one is not. > The serial number seems to be contained on a long white plug in chip > that is labeled "Motorola Permacode Code Plug". > Is there any way to reprogram this chip or to purchase a new chip that > matches the number of my other beeper? Ick, I'm don't believe that is the most elegant way of solving the problem. I've had to deal with similar situations many times and normally you can call the provider and they will make a small change to flag both beepers during a call. The company I use makes this type of change free of charge and the cost would be the rental of two beepers plus one phone number. I suppose it would be even cheaper if you own the beepers. I also find it useful to have multiple numbers on one beeper. For example, I currently have a voice mail/pager system on one number, I primarily use this for personal stuff, and two seperate numbers that I've given to my two biggest clients. The advantage of this is that each number also has a different letter illuminated (the A B C D at the bottom of most Motorola pagers) so I have a pretty good idea who is paging me. All of this costs about $22 a month, including pager rental, which seems cheap to me. I suppose the next step would to get an alphanumeric pager and have my computer send the subject line of each mail message I receive to it, although there is a such a thing as being to available. Cheers, darren alex griffiths (415) 708-3294 dag@well.sf.ca ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #419 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa05276; 4 Jun 91 0:32 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa21480; 3 Jun 91 23:02 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa31956; 3 Jun 91 21:56 CDT Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 21:34:39 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #420 BCC: Message-ID: <9106032134.ab16066@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Mon, 3 Jun 91 20:34:30 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 420 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: MCI $20 Promotion [John Higdon] Re: MCI $20 Promotion [Rob Stampfli] Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [Andy Sherman] Re: Rotary Dial Phones Forgotten But Not Gone [Robert L. Oliver] Re: Two Beepers, One Number [John A. Weeks III] Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security [Steven King] Re: PacBell Does Something Right [Ole J. Jacobsen] Re: PacBell Does Something Right [John Higdon] Re: Surprise!! [David E. A. Wilson] Re: Cellular Modems [Ron Dippold] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 00:06 PDT From: John Higdon Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: MCI $20 Promotion Rick Anderson writes: > My question to the net: is it legally feasible to cross out this > endorsement message, sign the check, collect the $20, and then legally > expect to not be switched over to MCI?? If you want to be extra sleazy (and let your conscience be your guide), the following scam will work and will not cost you any money. It assumes existing service with PacBell and AT&T (mileage with other providers may vary ...) First, notify PacBell that you suspect that MCI is about to slam your service. A note will go into your records that you made the call and the normal charges to switch the account (in case the "slamming" occurs) will be waived. Then call AT&T and tell them the same thing. AT&T will for some fixed period repeatedly place PIC orders, changing your service back to AT&T. If it already is AT&T, the order is ignored. If not (and is MCI), your PIC will be switched back to AT&T. You will not be charged by PacBell because of the previous call the that business office. How do I know this will work? Recently, I had some dealings with a reseller who I expected to pull just such a trick (change my PIC). I called PacBell, who said that while nothing could be done to stop such an order, a note could be made in my records to allow the switches of the PIC without charge. At the same time, AT&T offered to repeatedly put through PIC change orders to specify AT&T. I was told to check for PIC and if I found that it was changed to call AT&T or PacBell immediately. > I realize they will probably switch you over regardless of what you > do, but by crossing out the endorsement message, haven't you taken > away the "ok" for them to switch you over? Remember, there is nothing to stop you from switching back, unless the "contract" states that acceptance of the money requires you to languish with MCI for some period of time. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: Rob Stampfli Subject: Re: MCI $20 Promotion Organization: Little to None Date: Mon, 3 Jun 1991 03:26:49 GMT > [Moderator's Note: As soon as you cross out the special endorsement > you no longer have the right to cash the check which was issued as > payment for your having given permission to change your phones. When > you withheld your permission, you had no right to the money. And > please, no one needs to reply saying 'you have the right to keep > things of value which arrive in the mail unsolicited'. This was not > 'something of value'. It was a contract they were requesting you to > sign in exchange for immediate payment for doing so. Big difference. PAT] Pat, Put the shoe on the other foot: Suppose I wrote on the back of a check to MCI, in payment of a regular monthly bill: "By depositing this check, MCI agrees, for the value received, to provide the issuer of said check with phone service for the rest of his natural life, with no additional charges to be incurred." Are you really saying that if MCI should happen to not catch this and cashes the check, that they have entered into this contract? And if they do catch it, cross out the verbage and deposit the check anyway, are they guilty of some heinous crime? Then, what makes you or I different from MCI? I am not a lawyer, and neither are you. I have tried very diligently to get an answer to this question (not related to the MCI offer, incidently) and the best that I could ascertain was that it is far from a clearly defined point of contract law. I may morally agree with what you say, but I don't believe it would make a strong case in a court of law. Rob Stampfli, 614-864-9377, res@kd8wk.uucp (osu-cis!kd8wk!res), kd8wk@n8jyv.oh ------------------------------ From: Andy Sherman Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World Date: 3 Jun 91 18:30:21 GMT Reply-To: Andy Sherman Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ In article , YSAR1111@vm1.yorku.ca (Rick Broadhead) writes: > [Moderator's Note: I don't know if you meant it the way it came out, > but the telephone instrument has *nothing* to do with the ring you > hear as the caller. What you heard must have been some kind of fluke; > some temporary switch problem. PAT] He might have hit a PBX or Centrex that uses a double ring to indicate an outside call. Having moved around the Joisey locations of Bell Labs quite a bit, I've encountered this feature in ESSX (a centrex), Dimension, and System 85. Andy Sherman/AT&T Bell Laboratories/Murray Hill, NJ AUDIBLE: (908) 582-5928 READABLE: andys@ulysses.att.com or att!ulysses!andys What? Me speak for AT&T? You must be joking! ------------------------------ From: "Robert L. Oliver" Subject: Re: Rotary Dial Phones Forgotten But Not Gone Organization: Rabbit Software Corp. Date: 3 Jun 91 22:49:55 GMT brian@ucsd.edu (Brian Kantor) writes: > Ken Oberman wondered when COs would stop supporting pulse-dial > (rotary) phones. Well, PBX's already have; the UCSD Ericsson MD-110 > will not allow an extension phone to pulse-dial any number with a "1" > (one) in it -- it interprets the single pulse as a switchhook flash and > gives you a fresh dialtone. Sounds like a misconfiguration or a bug in the Ericsson to me. The switch should be able to tell the difference between a 1 and a flash. Further, you imply that OTHER numbers can be pulse dialled, indicating that pulse dialing IS supported. I suspect that the person who configured your Ericsson figured that no pulse phones would be used, and they set the flash interval so small that it cannot be distinguished from a 1 (our old ITT 3100 PBX could be so configured). It makes flashing easier: you don't have that annoying problem of trying to flash but realizing that you haven't held the hook down long enough. Used to happen to me all the time until I convinced our ITT maintenance people to change the flash interval; it was ridiculously high. Never encountered these problems with our current AT&T System 25. The defaults are apparently just right. Robert Oliver Rabbit Software Corp. 215 993-1152 7 Great Valley Parkway East robert@hutch.Rabbit.COM Malvern, PA 19355 ...!uunet!cbmvax!hutch!robert ------------------------------ From: "John A. Weeks III" Subject: Re: Two Beepers, One Number Date: Mon, 3 Jun 1991 17:10:46 -0500 Reply-To: "John A. Weeks III" Organization: NeWave Communications Ltd, Eden Prairie, MN In article levitt@zorro9.fidonet.org (Ken Levitt) writes: > The units are identical in every way (including frequency) except for > the serial number. I would like to have both units beep when the > signal comes in so that I could carry one unit and my partner could > carry the other. Only one of us would be on call at any given time, > but it would be nice to not have to pass the unit back and forth > constantly. As long as you expect to pay for service for two pagers and not just one, I am sure that your paging service would be more than happy make this change for you. > The serial number seems to be contained on a long white plug in chip > that is labeled "Motorola Permacode Code Plug". The permacode sets the code that the page will respond to. These are replacable parts, and most pager service centers and many paging services carry spare code plugs, but few carry duplicate code plugs. You would end up having to order a new code plug. Expect to spend $100 or so for the new code plug. If your paging service has two duplicate code plugs of a different code, it might end up cheaper to change both pagers to a new code. John A. Weeks III (612) 942-6969 john@newave.mn.org NeWave Communications, Ltd. ...uunet!tcnet!newave!john ------------------------------ From: Steven King Subject: Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security Date: 3 Jun 91 19:31:48 GMT Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group, Arlington Hgts IL In article colin@array.uucp (Colin Plumb) writes: > (Not that I expect anyone here to have any difficulty finding some > inessential space in a portable computer if they wented to create a > "working" bomb.) My feelings exactly. I've had to travel with a reasonably large (about 50 pounds with case) HP analyzer at times. When I bring it as a carry-on item airport security invariably wants me to unpack it and turn it on. I know that there's LOTS of room in there to fit exposives and a timer and still have the thing perform as advertised. Oddly, on a trip to Israel (you know, terrorism central?) last month I brought the analyzer as checked baggage. On the Chicago -> Zurich leg they took it no questions asked. (And I specifically told them, "This is computer equipment. PLEASE DON'T X-RAY IT!" Dunno if they did or not, but it still worked when I got there so I don't really care. :-) For the Zurich -> Tel Aviv leg all luggage had to be re-checked, and on that one they had me unpack the analyzer so they could run some sort of explosives sniffer over it. No one ever asked me to actually turn it on, though. (Good thing. I later found out I was missing the fuse needed for 220V AC.) Steven King, Motorola Cellular (...uunet!motcid!king) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 15:48:31 PDT From: "Ole J. Jacobsen" Subject: Re: PacBell Does Something Right You're lucky. I had to really work hard to convince the installers that they should rip out several generations of interface boxes and clean it all up with a six-line box for me and a two-line box for the guy downstairs (we share a garage in which the boxes are located). The installers told me that while it is in the company's interest to introduce the new telephone network interface boxes as much as possible, it is *not* in the installers' interest, as the nifty new boxes reduce service calls for which these guys get paid. One bad thing that they did do and I did not discover until after they were done: In order to get all my lines installed they had to pull out the existing five-pair underground cable and replace it with two five-pair cables (or so I thought). Since the conduit was so tight (it took them five hours to pull the 60 feet or so to the nearest pole) they "cheated" and intstalled a three-pair plus a five-pair. I have six lines, the other guy has two. 3 + 5 = 8 and 6 + 2 = 8, so now there is no room for expansion! Ole J Jacobsen, Editor & Publisher ConneXions--The Interoperability Report Interop, Inc., 480 San Antonio Road, Suite 100, Mountain View, CA 94040, Phone: (415) 941-3399 FAX: (415) 949-1779 Email: ole@csli.stanford.edu Direct: (415) 962-2515 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 20:23 PDT From: John Higdon Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: PacBell Does Something Right Donald Ekman writes: > It took exactly five minutes to connect my modem to the new line, and > another two minutes to test the whole thing. Pac Bell, for once, did > something right. You see this, John Higdon? :-) Yes, it certainly makes perfect sense for PacBell to remove your old drop, replace it with two-line overhead drop, and install a modern demark when you added ONE (1) line. On the other hand, it also apparently makes sense to the powers that be at PacBell to have an entire corner of my house covered with six types of protectors and ten haphazard single-line drops feeding them. A recently suggested theory is that this is PacBell's infliction of punishment for my having so many lines. Now for $300/month, it could all be provided on T1. Hmmmm .... could it be a sales pressure tactic? John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ From: David E A Wilson Subject: Re: Surprise!! Organization: Dept of Computer Science, Wollongong University, Australia Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 03:29:55 GMT > [Moderator's Note: Although we do not get flat-rate service, we do get > untimed local calls within an eight-mile radius for about four cents > each. Does this mean that the telco has the exact geographic co-ords for each phone number so that a call to one house [(abc) def 1234] is untimed but a call to another house on the same exchange but > eight miles away [(abc) def 1235] is timed? Or is it based on distances between exchanges so that if you are lucky you could be further apart as long as the two exchanges in question were within eight miles of each other? Our local calls are untimed (22c soon to be 24c) and can reach 30km to the north and south but only 5km to the east and 10km to the west (the Pacific Ocean and Illawarra Coastal Ranges get in the way) from my home. This is based on exchange districts - calls to your own district or an adjacent one are local. David Wilson Dept Comp Sci, Uni of Wollongong david@cs.uow.edu.au [Moderator's Note: They measure from one central office to another, as the crow flies. Any central offices within eight miles of the central office serving you in any direction make up your local calling area. I get a smaller area here since I am two miles west of Lake Michigan. I cannot call eight miles east! But my eight miles north gets me into Glencoe, IL. To the northwest, Skokie and Niles. West to the Chicago central offices of Kildare, Irving, Merrimac and Newcastle. South to the Chicago central offices of Lakeview, Superior, Illinois-Dearborn. Directly southeast of me is Chicago-Edgewater. 'My' CO is Rogers Park. There might be 10-11 miles between subscribers if both are at the outer edges of their own district. The plan here is fair to all. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Ron Dippold Subject: Re: Cellular Modems Organization: Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 22:01:08 GMT On the subject of cellular modems and laptops, I've run into something that others might have encountered a fix for. It seems the high-powered laptops such as the Toshiba 5200 don't have any provision for running off of a 12-V DC input. I can imagine that your typical low-power 12-V input might be insufficient to run something like this, with a hard drive, 16 megs of memory, 25 MHz 386, VGA screen, etc. However, we need something that powerful (and we need the slots). Seeing as how a car battery can provide a substantial amount of power, I was wondering if anyone knew of any product that would allow us to run something like this off of the car's lighter jack, or even to hook directly to the battery if necessary. Or of any portable with that much power and a slot that you can take along with your cellular phone. Standard disclaimer applies, you legalistic hacks. | Ron Dippold ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #420 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa07936; 4 Jun 91 1:39 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa19671; 4 Jun 91 0:10 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ac21480; 3 Jun 91 23:03 CDT Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 22:33:30 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #421 BCC: Message-ID: <9106032233.ab27425@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Mon, 3 Jun 91 22:33:01 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 421 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [Fred R. Goldstein] Re: Did Western Electric Also Produce Sound Recordings? [John Higdon] Re: 900 Numbers and Privacy [Tom Perrine] Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [Bill Huttig] Re: Movie Review: The President's Analyst [Donald E. Kimberlin] CORNET (was AT&T Announces New 800 Number) [Andy Sherman] Looking For Ringback Number [Rick Broadhead] Telecom References in Movies (Was The President's Analyst) [Dennis Pratt] Caller ID in the UK [Scott A. McIntyre] Telecom and Nixpub Systems Questions in Great Britain [Kai-Uwe Herbing] Markey Bill on Telemarketing [Robert Jacobson] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Fred R. Goldstein" Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World Date: 3 Jun 91 21:47:37 GMT Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA In article , john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: > Fred R. Goldstein writes: >> 2) The No. 1 Crossbar generated double ring on some numbers. Few are >> left in service but 703 is PacBell so there may be a few left ... > What? Did I read that right? Last time I was in the Commonwealth of > Virginia, the RBOC was the descendent of C&P. --- Mea Culpa. I read "704" instad of "703" and thought about oranges, talking mice, and various other fruits and nuts who hang out in PacBell land. I doubt that Virginia has any 1XB's left. But I may be wrong. Fred R. Goldstein Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com voice: +1 508 952 3274 Do you think anyone else on the planet would share my opinions, let alone a multi-billion dollar corporation? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 22:44 PDT From: John Higdon Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: Did Western Electric Also Produce Sound Recordings? George Horwath writes: > finally marketed it as the graphophone. This was the device that ^^^^^^^^^^^ > [Moderator's Note: Did you mean 'gramaphone'? PAT] No, this is not a typo. Several reference works talk about the 'graphophone'. This is understandably confusing. By the way, things like this have been appearing at the end of some digests: > ^A^A^A^A Are they the result of your new 'modemphone'? John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! [Moderator's Note: The four control-A's which appeared at the end of the re-transmission of issues 410-411-412 were inadvertently forgotten. I sent the remailing from the archives copies, and the symbols there mark the end and start of each issue. Sorry. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tom Perrine Subject: Re: 900 Numbers and Privacy Date: 3 Jun 91 22:44:28 GMT Reply-To: Tom Perrine Organization: Logicon, Inc., San Diego, California In article gast@cs.ucla.edu (David Gast) writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 413, Message 2 of 13 > Someone wrote yesterday: >> At the end it reports that 900 numbers increasingly capture the >> callers' numbers and translate them to addresses. According to Sprint >> Gateways, the US Sprint 900 department, they are able "to identify the >> names and addresses of the nine closest neighbors of the original 900 >> caller. With this information, additional qualified prospects can be >> identified for database marketing efforts." > Finally, I am curious about the nine closest neighbors. My guess is > that it is nine numbers close by, probably arranged by address. I > doubt that US Sprint actually has detailed maps indicating the > location and configuration of every apartment and house on every plot > of land. It would be interesting to know who my nine closest > neighbors are or even the nine closest neighbors of my parents. Where > do they measure from? Where the phone enters the building? The > center of the property? All in all, I would estimate that Sprint is > exaggerating its claims again. At least, I hope they do not have > these detailed maps. One very simple way to find your "nine-closest neighbors" is by using ZIP + 4. I discovered this while extensively researching privacy issues (killing time while waiting in the Post Office line). I saw the new ZIP + 4 directory, and decided to look up my address and see just how close someone could match me, based on only my ZIP + 4. I discovered that I share a ZIP + 4 with *one* neighbor. When I saw this, I skimmed through the book and noticed that in most instances, it appeared that there where no more than 8-12 addresses to a ZIP + 4. I live on a fairly generic street of single-family homes in a city (Poway) which is adjacent to San Diego. I do not know how ZIP + 4 deals with high-occupancy buildings, but I suspect that a ZIP + 4 could be set up to handle one or more floors of a single building. (Actually, I seem to recall that ZIP + 4s are grouped together to form the routes that the Post Office assigns to letter carriers.) I suspect that your "nine-closest neighbors" share your ZIP + 4, or are otherwise matched from adjacent ZIP + 4s. Tom Perrine (tep) |Internet: tep@tots.Logicon.COM |Voice: +1 619 597 7221 Logicon - T&TSD | UUCP: sun!suntan!tots!tep | or : +1 619 455 1330 P.O. Box 85158 |GENIE: T.PERRINE | FAX: +1 619 552 0729 San Diego CA 92138 ------------------------------ From: Bill Huttig Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Date: 4 Jun 91 02:14:03 GMT Organization: Florida Institute of Technology, ACS, Melbourne, FL In article "A. Satish Pai" writes: > My Calling Card (issued two years ago) has a number that is not my > home or other phone number (in fact I didn't have residential phone > service when I applied for the card). I've seen promotional literature > from AT&T saying explicitly that you don't need to have a phone number > of your own to get the card. [stuff deleted] > So what's the difference from the older cards? > One thing different that I _have_ seen (in pictures of the new card in > ads) is that the "international number" seems to have an extra six > digits prefixed to it compared to the one on the older cards, and > there is a two-digit "authorization code" also on the card. Since I > haven't got any notification from AT&T about my Calling Card, I The difference is that the old non-subscriber cards are issued in area code 507 and 508 with a exchange that is inposible (starting with a 0 or 1) and are handled through various BOC's, I had one that was billed by Cincinatti Bell a few years ago. They provided verification for the AT&T to the LEC's. The new cards start with a 83x where x is a 6 or 8. The international part of the number is 891253 xxx xxxx xxxx x xx the 89 is the internation standard for phone card the 1 is for the North America country code. The 253 id's it as a AT&T card the xxx xxx xxxx is the same as the US version. The x xx are additional verification numbers. I was surprised that the number 253 was used as Carrier ID and not 288 like the PIC. It would have made more sense to use the PIC's. Bill [Moderator's Note: I think all the non-subscriber AT&T cards were handled by Cincinatti Bell for many years ... maybe still. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 09:46 GMT From: "Donald E. Kimberlin" <0004133373@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Movie Review: The President's Analyst In Digest v11iss418, Rob Boudrie describes the closing scenes of a film that ought to be in the curriculum of every student of telecommunications. Rob asks for recall of earlier scenes, all of which probably run on and on to the casual viewer. The earlier scenes do, however all build the thread that the world has some all-pervading, all-knowing super spy organization called TPC. Because the President's analyst knows what's on the mind of the President of the U.S., every spy organization wants to capture him for interrogation. For most of the film, James Coburn (the actor who portrayed "Our Man Flint" in a number of 007 spoof films) is chased, captured and escapes from every major spy organization in the world. Through all this plot-building, no matter where Coburn is, on land, at sea (indeed at one time under it in a Russian sub) or in the air while being chased by one spy service after another, he is under constant color video and audio surveillance by TPC. Truly, TPC has telecommunications ability equalled by no other organization on the planet. But, threaded through every adventure the President's analyst embarks on is a non-stop series of "telephone gags." Many of these are "inside jokes," hilarious to anyone who was ever inside the monopoly U.S. telephone esablishment; perhaps puzzling and boring to a non-initiate. Among the more obvious gags are a scene in the Washington bar where spies of all nations meet for a drink at the end of a hard day. Each has to check in with their respective national HQ, comparing notes about how rotten the phone company is in their home nation. In the scene Rob mentions, the President's analyst has finally escaped bearing nothing but but his undershorts, and finds himself along a road through open Canadian wheat fields - with nothing in view but a telephone booth. His attempts to place a collect call to the White House, but lacking the demanded coin the idiotic operator is only going to return after taking the call order, are the penultimate example of Lily Tomlin's "Ernestine the Operator." Whoever the author of "The President's Analyst" was, that person certainly had to be "on the inside" in the bad old days of the monopoly era of telecommunications. Today, it can be found in the "oldies and classics" section of many video rental stores for a very low rental price. I heartily recommend viewing this film to every serious student of telecommunications as a very entertaining object lesson in what the study all came from. It's a great way to pick up on what the cognoscenti are talking about here in the Digest! ------------------------------ From: Andy Sherman Subject: CORNET (was Re: AT&T Announces New Technical Reference 800 Number) Date: 3 Jun 91 18:51:15 GMT Reply-To: Andy Sherman Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ In article , nstar!bluemoon!sbrack@ iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Steven S. Brack) writes: > A quick, simple question: what is Cornet? > [Moderator's Note: Cornet is the internal phone network of AT&T. Like > many large nationwide corporations, they have their own internal network. > I wonder what they pay for it and who they get it from? :) PAT] CORNET is on the way out. At most locations it's already been replaced with a Software Defined Network (SDN). You dial 1+NPA+NXX+xxxx and some other magic routes the call. Most locations have switched over some time ago. There are chargebacks for SDN calls, since the business unit that provides the service sure wants the revenue shifted from *your* books to *its* books. Andy Sherman/AT&T Bell Laboratories/Murray Hill, NJ AUDIBLE: (908) 582-5928 READABLE: andys@ulysses.att.com or att!ulysses!andys What? Me speak for AT&T? You must be joking! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 Jun 91 17:00:57 EDT From: Rick Broadhead Subject: Looking For Ringback Number Pat: I'm not sure if this is an appropriate question for the list, but I'm looking for the telephone number that will cause my own telephone to ring (there must be an acronym to describe such a number, but I don't know what it is). The number used to be 41091 but then the telephone company changed the switching equipment for my exchange (487), and now, dialing that number generates a "We're sorry, your call cannot be completed as dialed...." announcement. Dialing 57 + the last five digits of your phone number seems to work on almost every exchange but my own. I expected that once my exchange had been serviced, I would be able to use this method like everyone else. But, dialing 57 + the last five digits of my own phone number brings "You have dialed a number to which long distance charges apply...." Obviously, I can't ask Bell for the number. Do you have any idea how I'd go ab out looking for it (I'm in 416)? Thanks. Rick Broadhead ysar1111@VM1.YorkU.CA [Moderator's Note: The ringback number varies from one community to the next. There is no set rule. Maybe someone in area 416 reading this who knows the answer will write you direct. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dennis Pratt Subject: Telecom References in Movies (Was: The President's Analyst) Date: Mon, 3 Jun 1991 09:06:30 DST Organization: GTE Labs, Inc. Other important telecom aspects of The President's Analyst included: * All phone company employees were actually PR robots. * The phone company had video bugs planted all over the world. * The phone company was more powerful than the KBG, CIA, FBI, etc. I would like to compile a list of telecom references from popular movies (and what those references were). I particularly liked the Cheers episode two years ago in which Robin Colcord (sp?) phones Cheers from a plane (using, perhaps, GTE Airfone). The connection was extremely poor, causing a mis-communication, and leading to the humorous episode. Sam also implied that Robin used AirFone only to impress people. Please email any telecom references from movies that you remember to DGP0@bunny.gte.com. Dennis Pratt New Service Modeling Techniques Service Concept Design Department GTE Laboratories, Inc., Waltham, MA (617) 466-2910 ------------------------------ From: "Scott A. McIntyre" Date: Mon, 3 Jun 1991 14:05:16 BST Subject: Caller ID in the UK I was just browsing through a flatmates copy of Cosmopolitan and in the back, in the advertising section under Personal was a device called something like the Inquisitor. Essentially, it's a Caller ID box that displays the area code and phone number of all incoming calls. It is also programmable to ignore calls from certain area codes or precise numbers. It also boasts a automatic dialer and a few other widgets. As far as I am aware, this is the first of these deviced to be on the UK market. I would think that it will not be trememdously successful since most of the UK is not on Tone yet (the device requires it). If anyone wants any more information, let me know, I'll copy down the advert and submit it. Scott ------------------------------ From: Kai-Uwe Herbing Subject: Telecom and Nixpub Systems Questions in Great Britain Date: 2 Jun 91 12:25:28 GMT Organization: netmbx, Berlin, Germany Hey folks, I am interested to go from Germany to Great Britain and therefore I research the conditions concerning access to the net. I would like to know, if there are any nixpub systems in Great Britain, how high are the prices, the British Telecom charges you pay per minute (average) and so on. If this is'nt the right newsgroup to ask all this, please refrain from flaming me, but direct me to the right one, because I found none fitting better. Please respond by e-mail. Thanks in advance for your help. Kai-Uwe Herbing | phone 49-30-3126145 Strasse 28 D-1000 Berlin 12 | herbing@netmbx Fed.Rep.of Germany | herbing%netmbx@db0tui6.bitnet ------------------------------ From: Robert Jacobson Subject: Markey Bill on Telemarketing Organization: Human Interface Technology Lab, Univ. of Wash., Seattle Date: Mon, 3 Jun 1991 05:46:14 GMT Rep. Markey of the House Subcomm. on Telecomm has introduced a bill that would create a national telemarketing "NO CALLS" list, to which telemarketers could not make calls without assuming legal liability. It has been covered in almost every newspaper of record, and chances of its passage are rated high. Is anyone on the East Coast tracking the progress of this bill? Thanks for your report, if you are. I drafted an almost identical bill for the CA legislature which passed in 1989, only to be vetoed by our then-Governor Deukmejian ... so you know where I stand on this matter.) :-) Bob Jacobson ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #421 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa10513; 4 Jun 91 2:46 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab09912; 4 Jun 91 1:18 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ac19671; 4 Jun 91 0:11 CDT Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 23:12:37 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #422 BCC: Message-ID: <9106032312.ab10661@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Mon, 3 Jun 91 23:12:31 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 422 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Telephone Advertising Consumer Rights Act (HR1304) [bparrish] The FCC Says it Wants to Hear From You! [Donald E. Kimberlin] Click on Line After First Ring - a New Noise [Andy Rabagliati] Funny Ringing Tones in North America [Dave Leibold] Underground vs Aerial Plant [Jim Redelfs] Inta-LATA Calls by AT&T, and 800 via USA Direct [John R. Covert] Mux's For Sale [Glen Lovell] Videophones? Telewriters? [Artur Matuck] Baud-y Bits (Was That Toddlin' Town Named the Ohm, Too!) [Al Varney] 950 Carrier Access From Canada [Dave Leibold] Re: New Mexico Cell Questions [John R. Covert] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Telephone Advertising Consumer Rights Act (HR1304) Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 12:57:45 PDT From: bparrish Re: HR1304 (Markey) Bill If anyone is interested in getting a copy of the bill, just give a call to your congressman ... I did so last week, and have a copy on my desk right now. The bill basically sets up a database that telemarketers must query before calling to sell things ... anyone who wants to can request to be in the database indicating that they do not wish to receive unsolicited sales calls. Much of the text deals with the FCC's responsibility to figure out how to set up and pay for the database. Interesting points ... It includes lots of rules about faxes ... "Telephone Solicitation" is defined as "the initiation of a telephone message for the purpose of encouraging a person to purchase, rent, or invest in property, goods, or services without that person's prior express invitation or permission". Note the exclusion of fund-raising. Maybe the politicians still want to be able to do it themselves? There is a restriction making it unlawful to "...use any automatic dialing system to make unsolicited calls -- (A) To any emergency telephone line or pager of any hospital, medical physician or service office, health care facility, or fire protection or law enforcement agency; or (B) to any telephone number assigned to paging or cellular telephone service" Notably missing from this are non-emergency lines in hospitals (i.e. patient rooms) although I suppose a hospital could list all their patient rooms on the "restricted" database. I personally know of a case of a telemarketeer making a call to a labor room at a local hospital ... my wife was labor coach for a friend and told the telemarketer to go soak his head. Autodialers must state the identity of the company making the call, and "when technically practible (given the limitations of the telephone exchange service facilities) after the called party hangs up, automatically create a disconnect signal or on-hook condition which allows the called party's line to be released." The bill is 12 pages long,(double-spaced) and makes pretty interesting reading. I personally would prefer that "solicitation" included fund-raising. I don't know the status of the bill wrt committees and whatnot, except what is on the cover "referred to the Committee on Enery[sic] and Commerce"... but it's kind of fun to finally see something in writing. Bill Parrish (bparrish@hprnd.rose.hp.com) HP Roseville CA ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 91 01:12 GMT From: "Donald E. Kimberlin" <0004133373@mcimail.com> Subject: The FCC Says it Wants to Hear From You! The June 1 issue of TE&M has an interesting article on page 18; one that indicaes a route that might be useful to suffering sole practitioner consultants who need some recognition. It goes as follows: "FCC COURTING VIEWS FROM NON-D.C. PLAYERS "The FCC's first look at `Networks of the Future' won't be it's last, according to Office of Plans and Policy Chief Robert Pepper, who is considering how commissiners can get more regular contact with telecom industry players whose jobs are not wooing Washington. "The commission had an _en_banc_ hearing last month where technicians and users described how the telecommunications network will develop, which communications products consmuers want, and what innovative projects are underway. Overriding thems were the increasingly blurry lines among voice, data, broadcast, cellular andother communications technologies, and the need for an applications platform similar to that in the computer industry, so vendors and users who plug into network are assured of uniform specifications. "Pepper says commissioners want to hear more from network users in the field and especially on ideas about specific applications. His office is considering ideas for regular contact between the FCC and the world outside the Capital Beltway. "He agrees that tecnology is blurring the distinction among communications media, but doesnot see a massive FCC reorganization as a result. He concludes however, that the commission `must be flexible enough to make changes along with technology, including better work across traditional bureau boundaries." --------------- ...This certainly should be an opportunity for anyone with the gumption to write a letter to Pepper at the FCC's M Street address. ------------------------------ From: Andy Rabagliati Subject: Click on Line After First Ring - a New Noise Organization: SGS-Thomson/Inmos Division Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 05:55:51 GMT Here in Colorado Springs (US West) I have noticed both on our PBX at work, and my home phone, that there is a click on the line after the first ring. Is this 'shutting out' Caller*Id that I havent paid for? Turning on the bug "they" have on me :-) ? Thanks. Cheers, Andy - andyr@inmos.COM ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 23:48:00 PST From: Dave Leibold Subject: Funny Ringing Tones in North America Reply-to: dleibold@attmail.com Regarding the double ringing tone of numbers in 416-392, that prefix is used by the City of Toronto for municipal services, and presumably a DID connection to their PBX. 416-393 is for the Metro level of government in Toronto. Thus, it's the PBX ringing tone that comes across (and PBX rings are normally faster than your average phone line). Not too many years ago, when step-by-step switches dotted the Toronto landscape, it was possible to get all kinds of error tones depending on which exchange was dialed. There were sirens for wrong numbers or invalid prefixes, or there were recordings, or there were many types of fast busy signals to be had. With the conversion of just about everything to DMS switches in Bell Canada territory, everything will soon sound the same. mail to: dleibold@attmail.com Dave Leibold - via IMEx node 89:681/1 Dave.Leibold@f135.n82.z89.onebdos.UUCP ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 Jun 91 20:30:02 CST From: Jim Redelfs Subject: Underground vs Aerial Plant Reply-To: ivgate!macnet!jim.redelfs@uunet.uu.net Organization: Macnet Omaha > When I look at old photographs of Chicago, say from the 1900-1920 > era, all I see in the sky are telephone poles and wires running > everywhere. The wires criss-cross in all directions running up and > down the streets, etc. And now, telephone poles, while not rare, are > far less common here. In the downtown area you don't see one for > blocks at a time. In the residential areas, we have poles in the > alley behind the houses in many areas, but very few on the main > streets. They have buried almost everything. When Northwestern Bell Telephone Company celebrated its centennial (1979) they published an EXCELLENT book, "Good-bye Central, Hello World", specially commissioned for the occasion. In the book was a photograph of downtown Omaha's Harney Street - and the maze of overhead wires. As I recall, the poles had TWELVE cross arms! In the book it was mentioned that the Omaha City Council passed an ordinance mandating that NWB have ALL plant UNDERGROUND (between the Missouri River and 24th Street) by 1935! One of the things that, as a phoneman, strikes me is when I drive into Lincoln, NE. Lincoln Telephone and Telegraph Company STILL has MANY, major feeder cables hanging in the air along MAIN streets! Most of the distribution cables are enshrouded in squirrel-guard. Heaven only knows how old the plant under it is! What galls me is that we spent the last 20-30 years BURYING all (most) of our plant then, in a couple, short years, CATV hung "it" all back up there again! JR Tabby 2.2 MacNet Omaha 402-289-2899 On loan from Mrs MacWidow (1:285/14) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 06:51:57 PDT From: "John R. Covert 03-Jun-1991 0933" Subject: Inta-LATA Calls by AT&T, and 800 via USA Direct It's time to end some misconceptions. Some folks have been complaining about AT&T being prevented from handling Intra-LATA calls when MCI and Sprint are allowed to do so. This is simply not true. Whether carriers other than the local telco can carry Intra-LATA traffic or not is determined on a state-by-state basis by the local DPU/PUC/PSC/CC. If the local regulatory authority decides to permit Intra-LATA competition, each carrier wishing to compete must file a tariff with the local authorities. AT&T has chosen not to file tariffs for most kinds of Intra-LATA service, even where they would be allowed to do so. In the case of Massachusetts, AT&T has chosen not to handle Intra-LATA Message Telephone Service (1+ and 0+ calling), but does handle other kinds of Intra-LATA service, such as Readyline 800, Megacom, and Software Defined Network (SDN). So quit your moaning about AT&T being unfairly picked on. In re calls to 800 numbers via USA Direct: This is a service that AT&T has only been providing for about a year now. So the reports of people trying a couple of years ago without avail are true, but were before the service was offered. To use the service, you must have either an AT&T or local exchange carrier calling card. Third number or collect billing is not possible, nor is billing to any bank or travel and entertainment cards. When I used the service almost exactly a year ago from Bermuda, a call to a fictitious number in Pittsburgh appeared on my bill. Calling that number yielded a recording explaining the USA Direct 800 calling service. Back then, the USA Direct operator (who can be on a console anywhere in the country; many of them are in North Carolina), had to pass the call on to another operator. Now the software in the normal Toll Services Positions has been modified so that the first operator can directly connect the call. AT&T will provide the service only to AT&T 800 numbers -- this is because to do otherwise would not only cause people to receive calls from areas other than those specified in their contracts with MCI/Sprint or whoever, but would also provide a benefit to their competition which AT&T seems to consider not to be worth the small added revenue of handling the call. john ------------------------------ From: Glen Lovell Subject: Mux's For Sale Date: 3 Jun 91 14:51:20 GMT Organization: The Johns Hopkins University - HCF For Sale !!! 15 (ea) Teltone M-825 T-1 asynch Multiplexers. Just taken out of service, excellent condition... *32 line without modem control *31 line with modem control *9600 Baud and below with error-correction *19200 without error-correction *T1 lightning protected *Internal span power for driving repeaters *1 mile at 26 guage 2 pair shielded without repeaters Great gear. $ 750 per pair or best offer. Glen @ (301)338-8096 or GDL@JHUVMS.HCF.JHU.EDU ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 12:20:03 -0400 (EDT) From: Artur Matuck Subject: Videophones? Telewriters? Does anyone know where to find info to eventually acquire videophones and telewriters? I am trying to set up an international art telecommunication event and I heard some people are already using those devices. How do I find them? Thanks, Artur Matuck ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 18:22:20 CDT From: Al Varney Subject: Baud-y Bits (Was: That Toddlin' Town Named the Ohm, Too!) Organization: AT&T Network Systems In article 0004133373@mcimail.com (Donald E. Kimberlin) writes: [a lot of stuff about partying in Chicago, but leaves out the details!] > But be careful: Some units, like the Baud, are used as internationally > standardized and are capitalized anyway. However, not only do > telecomm people almost always write the term Baud incorrectly, they > typically horrobly misuse it, anyway. Your 2400 bps modem does NOT > transmit or receive 2400 "Baud," unless you want to play word games > about it doing so because it's operating full duplex! Regardless, > your 9600 NEVER transmits 9600 "Baud" in any event.) Well, NEVER say NEVER! Don't forget that there are "modems" that interface to AT&T's digital (DDS) network that really send 9600 "symbols"/second. The DDS network doesn't convert the user's bits to analog signals, it instead multiplexes them to a DS0-compatible 56-Kbps bipolar format, then encodes that into a single 64-Kbps T1 channel. The receiving end just undoes the multiplexing/encoding. In the interest of fairness, I should mention that almost any real carrier will support private-line or direct-connect service of this type, including Mr. Kimberlin's company. Of course, maybe this doesn't fit your idea of a "modem". And I agree the terms "baud" and "Baud" are mis-used by telecom people, even "horrobly". The "operator's manual" for my SupraModem 2400(tm) uses "bps" almost everywhere, and even defines 2400 bps as "600 symbols per second". But in Appendix A, "Result Codes", the meaning of "CONNECT 2400" is "Modem has connected at 2400 baud." Maybe you have to mis-define the code in order to be compatible with the "industry-standard AT command set"?? What does a Hayes manual say? Al Varney, AT&T Network Systems, Lisle, IL ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Jun 91 23:40:00 PST From: dleibold@attmail.com Subject: 950 Carrier Access From Canada Reply-to: dleibold@attmail.com Brian Crawford asks: > Is "950" carrier access available FROM Canada (B.C. specifically)? The straight 950 prefix (or 10xxx for that matter) doesn't operate in Canada ... yet. However, that prefix seems to be reserved for eventual carrier access. Some payphones and switches have been found to treat the 10xxx syntax properly (though only a recording comes on at this point). In the meantime, MCI can be reached from Canada via their 1 800 950.1022 number, while Sprint's 1 800 877.8000 number worked from Toronto in recent times. These are available only to those who have active billing with these carriers (such as US residents, or Canadians who move to Florida :->). Information about other carriers (Allnet, Metromedia/ITT, etc) is unknown as I didn't have their 800 access numbers. U.S.-bound calls seem to default to AT&T when dialing 1+ out of Canada. At least directory assistance calls to California are greeted with thanks for using AT&T. Also, payphones that take cards (which are not too common) will accept AT&T's card, along with Canadian telco cards, Visa, MC, and Amex. It's a good bet that dialing the card number (ie. 0 + area code + number card #) will accept the AT&T cards. Now if the CRTC (Canadian regulator) can open up 10xxx at least for the U.S.- bound calls from Canada. It shouldn't matter to the Telecom Canada folks once the call crosses the border. The concern seems to be use of U.S. carriers to make calls from one Canadian point to another, cutting Bell Canada, Unitel, etc out. BTW ... does anyone know if the calling number is passed along when a 950 is dialed, or does the carrier completely rely on the called number and the card number with this? David Leibold dleibold@attmail.com Uucp - via IMEx node 89:681/1 Uucp@f135.n82.z89.onebdos.UUCP ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 May 91 11:47:54 PDT From: "John R. Covert 31-May-1991 1440" Subject: Re: New Mexico Cell Questions > As to the "B"s: Is there a "B" in Santa Fe? No one was sure about > this, and there was some suggestion made that a new system had been > set up but no info was available yet. Any word on this? U.S. West has the license to operate the B system, but have not built it yet. Their Albuquerque system reaches to just barely the southern edge of Santa Fe, they tell me. For more info, call them on 800-238-7848. john ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #422 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa21177; 5 Jun 91 4:19 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa06402; 5 Jun 91 2:40 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa31951; 5 Jun 91 1:32 CDT Date: Wed, 5 Jun 91 1:10:08 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #423 BCC: Message-ID: <9106050110.ab04426@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Wed, 5 Jun 91 01:09:59 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 423 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [J. Philip Miller] Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [Rob Woiccak] Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [Dave Niebuhr] Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [Joshua E. Muskovitz] Re: MCI $20 Promotion [Mike Riddle] Re: MCI $20 Promotion [Jim Redelfs] Re: Movie Review: The President's Analyst [Scott Dorsey] Re: Movie Review: The President's Analyst [Roy M. Silvernail] Re: Cheap 9600 bps Modem [Robert Dinse] Re: One City With Two Area Codes [Carl Moore] Re: International 800 Access [David Heale] Re: Surprise!! [Fred R. Goldstein] Pet Peeve About Newer Modems (was Telephone Key Pads) [Steve Forrette] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "J. Philip Miller" Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 23:14:06 CDT Skip Collins writes: > Why don't the telephone companies allow customers to *choose* their > own PINs, as some banks now do for their ATM cards. Well at least with the AT&T Universal card, you can change your PIN to whatever you want. Just call them and change the one they have assigned to you. J. Philip Miller, Professor, Division of Biostatistics, Box 8067 Washington University Medical School, St. Louis MO 63110 phil@wubios.WUstl.edu - Internet (314) 362-3617 uunet!wuarchive!wubios!phil - UUCP (314)362-2693(FAX) C90562JM@WUVMD - bitnet ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 04 Jun 91 08:16:12 EDT From: rob woiccak Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Skip Collins sez: > Why don't the telephone companies allow customers to *choose* their > own PINs, as some banks now do for their ATM cards. In fact, some do. I called up Bell Atlantic to acquire a calling card yesterday morning and after going through the rigormorole of supplying name and number, the operator asked if I wanted to choose a PIN of my own (the last four digits that is). I was a bit stunned and just stammered, "um, no, I'll let you do it". rob woiccak zengineer -- rewoicc@erenj.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1991 7:33:38 EDT From: "Dave Niebuhr, BNL CCD, 516-282-3093" Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? I recently changed my NYTel PIN (reason unimportant) and found that I had to select a new four-digit number and give it to a second person. Not bad. However, a few days later a card arrived from ATT (my long distance carrier) with my new PIN on it. I was curious but didn't pursue the matter at that point. A few days after that the new NYTel card arrived. The difference between the two is that the ATT card has my full phone number, PIN and International number whereas the NYTel card has just the PIN. I called ATT and asked why I received a new card since I hadn't made the request to them. The answer was that the local BOC forwarded the number to a processor and the third party went ahead and cut two cards (one ATT and one NYTel). It seems that these two outfits share the same database for PINs. However, the ATT operator couldn't answer what would have happened if I had Sprint, MCI or any other long distance company. Dave Niebuhr Brookhaven National Laboratory BITnet and Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov [Moderator's Note: What would have happened is you would have received a different card and a different PIN. Only AT&T and the local telco share a calling card data base, and AT&T will not be doing with the local telco much longer. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 91 09:38:51 EDT From: "Joshua E. Muskovitz" Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? I've been an MCI customer for years and I've ALWAYS (well, with one exception noted below) had my MCI calling card be the same first 10 digits of my phone, and then a different PIN from the RBOC. Makes sense to me. All I have to remember is which PIN to use. The only time this didn't work was after my last move. The MCI rep set up my account incorrectly (but issued cards). After realizing the mistake, they cancelled service and set it up again (this time correctly). This was in a matter of minutes. But when they went to issue me a calling card (for the new account), the computer recognised that a card had been issued for that phone number and instead issued a scrambled card number. When I finally got the card, I called MCI and asked about it. After about five minutes, they figured out what had happened, cancelled those cards, and issued me new cards based on my phone number. Since I was going on a trip and wouldn't have the new cards in time (and they couldn't tell me the PIN) they told me to use my RBOC / (ATT) card and they would reimburse me for the difference in rates, when the bill came. All in all, very nice service. (Although I've had some really bad service from them, too.) ------------------------------ From: Mike Riddle Subject: Re: MCI $20 Promotion Organization: Nebraska Inns of Court Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1991 13:25:48 GMT In colnet!res@cis.ohio-state.edu (Rob Stampfli) writes: >> [Moderator's Note: As soon as you cross out the special endorsement >> you no longer have the right to cash the check which was issued as >> payment for your having given permission to change your phones. >> [deleted] >> It was a contract they were requesting you to >> sign in exchange for immediate payment for doing so. Big difference. PAT] > I am not a lawyer, and neither are you. I have tried very diligently > to get an answer to this question (not related to the MCI offer, > incidently) and the best that I could ascertain was that it is far > from a clearly defined point of contract law. I may morally agree > with what you say, but I don't believe it would make a strong case in > a court of law. Well, I'm a law school graduate but not yet admitted to any state bar, so I guess this is just going to be over-educated ramblings, but here's my two cents worth. The issue of endorsements on the back of checks is subject to the Uniform Commercial Code and is, as the last poster suggested, not entirely clear. "It Depends" is the best answer one can give, separate from the specific facts in a case. When I received the MCI offer recently, the qualification was also on the front of the check and an enclosed letter clearly explained the offer. I don't know, of course, if this format was followed anywhere else, but in my semi-professional opinion, if /I/ had endorsed the check, I would have been accepting their offer to switch. Which I didn't, for reasons which will remain my own. <<<< insert standard disclaimer here >>>> riddle@hoss.unl.edu | Nebraska Inns of Court ivgate!inns!postmaster@uunet.uu.net | +1 402 593 1192 Sysop of 1:285/27@Fidonet | 3/12/24/9600/8N1/V.32/V.42bis ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 Jun 91 18:51:35 CST From: Jim Redelfs Subject: Re: MCI's $20 Promotion Reply-To: ivgate!macnet!jim.redelfs@uunet.uu.net Organization: Macnet Omaha Rick Anderson wrote: [Regarding MCI's $20 check - the endorsement of which grants them permission to change your PIC (long distance carrier) to MCI] > is it legally feasible to cross out this endorsement message, sign > the check, collect the $20, and then legally expect to not be > switched over to MCI? To which Pat replied: > As soon as you cross out the special endorsement you no longer have > the right to cash the check which was issued as payment for your > having given permission to change your phones. When you withheld your > permission, you had no right to the money. I agree with that, Pat. After I (recently) received my check from MCI, I did some thinking - AND some calling to the US WEST Communications Business Office. I did not see among the promotional literature that accompanied the check anything that indicated a TIME constraint - how long one MUST remain with MCI following the cashing of the check/cutover to MCI. "We" charge $5 (total) to change a customer's long distance carrier. I wonder if MCI will allow THE CUSTOMER to pay that charge (out of the $20 check)? I assume so. So the net value of the check is reduced to $15. After a period of time, the customer could initiate a PIC-change to another carrier, incurring yet another $5 charge by the RBOC. At that point, the net value of MCI's promotion to the end user is a CLEAR, $10! Not a bad deal, really. It just depends on how much value one places on his/ her time - to place the PIC-change order. JR --- Tabby 2.2 MacNet Omaha 402-289-2899 On loan from Mrs MacWidow (1:285/14) ------------------------------ From: Scott Dorsey Subject: Re: Movie Review: The President's Analyst Reply-To: Scott Dorsey Organization: NASA Langley Research Center Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1991 13:40:41 GMT In article 0004133373@mcimail.com (Donald E. Kimberlin) writes: > But, threaded through every adventure the President's analyst > embarks on is a non-stop series of "telephone gags." Many of these > are "inside jokes," hilarious to anyone who was ever inside the > monopoly U.S. telephone esablishment; perhaps puzzling and boring to > a non-initiate. The President's Analyst really is a spectacular film. I have a 16mm print of it underneath my bed and invite any comp.dcom.telecom readers to view it if they ever find themselves in the southern Virginia area. scott ------------------------------ Subject: Movie Review: The President's Analyst From: "Roy M. Silvernail" Date: Mon, 03 Jun 91 22:42:41 CDT Organization: Villa CyberSpace, Minneapolis, MN rboudrie@encore.com (Rob Boudrie) writes: > "The President's Analyst" is an old (early 70's I think, but I may be > off) movie starring James Coburn. [...] > I don't remember how it turned out, and it was mediocre as movies go, > *BUT* the true to life nature of the telco promo movies in it was > hilarious. If anyone remembers other funny or remarkable scenes from > the film, please post them. You had mentioned the movie Coburn was forced to watch ... Pat Harrington played the quintessential Phone Company announcer/PR flack, narrating the movie and explaining why they needed Coburn to convince the President of the necessity of their plan. As he's going on, the camera pans down to a close-up of his right foot, shot from behind. Into the heel of his shoe is plugged a standard-looking cord-board cord and plug, with the cord trailing off-screen. At the end of the movie, there is a brief scene with a roomful of TPC types standing and watching the video clandestinely taken in Coburn's house, as he's reunited with his friends and allies. A close-up of Harrington, with a sentimental tear in his eye pulls back and pans the roomful of PhoneDroids, and as the camera pans, you see that _all_ of them have the same cord exiting their right heels. That's my favorite James Coburn movie. I've yet to see it in a video store ... is it available? The TPC movie is truly a classic; all those Bell Labs films we saw in grade school, thrown in a blender. Thanks for reminding me! Roy M. Silvernail |+| roy%cybrspc@cs.umn.edu ------------------------------ From: nanook@eskimo.celestial.com (Robert Dinse) Subject: Re: Cheap 9600 bps Modem Date: 2 Jun 91 17:32:44 GMT Organization: ESKIMO NORTH (206) 367-3837 SEATTLE WA. In article , hoepfner@heawk1.gsfc.nasa. gov (Patrick Hoepfner) writes: > There is also a V.32bis, V.42bis, MNP5 and send/receive Fax modem from > Prometheus selling for around $700! > Get 'em while their hot! Haven't had any experience with the Prometheus 9600 bauds, but for their 2400 baud external modems, "Get 'em while their hot!" is appropriate, I could could just about fry an egg on the ones I used to have. I had to take the option card out of one of them or it would hang up on people as soon as it answered. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 91 10:12:15 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: One City With Two Area Codes That is 917 (not 918) to be used for cellular/beeper in NYC. 918 is in use in Oklahoma, including Tulsa. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: International 800 access Date: Tue, 4 Jun 91 10:02:48 BST From: D.Heale@ee.surrey.ac.uk Attempts to dial American 800 numbers from the UK sometimes give one of two recorded messages (otherwise they just give number unobtainable tone). The messages are: "The number you have dialled is unobtainable, please check the number and try again," and "Your international call could not be completed as dialled, please check the number and try again 2EN". Both of these imply that the user has missdialled rather than international calls to the number being blocked. Presumably there is a table of valid area codes at one of the international exchanges and any code not listed returns these messages, whether it is non-existant or blocked. David Heale ------------------------------ From: "Fred R. Goldstein" Subject: Re: Surprise!! Date: 4 Jun 91 18:54:35 GMT Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA In article , david@cs.uow.edu.au (David E A Wilson) writes... (Actually, Pat sez:) > [Moderator's Note: They measure from one central office to another, as > the crow flies. Any central offices within eight miles of the central > office serving you in any direction make up your local calling area. In some cases they use the location of the CO, but in others, they bill to a "rate center" at a fictitious location. This is useful to the telco when "contiguous exchanges" get a lower rate than nearby non-contiguous exchanges. By splitting one CO into multiple exchanges, they reduce the local/cheap radius! New England Telephone does this a lot. Medford, Everett and Melrose MA are all exchanges, with their own billing locations, but they don't have CO's; all are served by the Malden CO (which has a lot of prefixes). Likewise, Charlestown, MA is an exchange served by the Boston-Bowdoin CO, whose other codes are in the Boston Central exchange. Dover (in 508) by the Needham CO (in 617), etc. In some other cases, a CO has different prefix codes for different localities but they're billed as one. Mattapan served by Milton and West Medford by Arlington are examples. Hence the distinction between the CO serving area (which may be part of an exchange, or more than one exchange) and exchange area itself (which is a line on a map). Confusing, eh? Fred R. Goldstein Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com voice: +1 508 952 3274 Do you think anyone else on the planet would share my opinions, let alone a multi-billion dollar corporation? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 23:02:00 -0700 From: Steve Forrette Subject: Pet Peeve About Newer Modems (was Telephone Keypads) In article Jamie Mason writes: > Of course, now we have computer keyboards on fast computers > which will accept chracters faster than Superman could type. And my > local switch can handle my modem dialing with DTMF tones of less than > a 35ms duration. This reminds me of a "pet peeve" (sic?) that I have with the newer modems. Both the Hayes 9600 V-series and the $74 2400 card-modem I have won't accept an ATS11 value (DTMF duration) of less than 50ms. The default seems to be 100ms. The Hayes will take a smaller value, but use 50 during tone generation. The clone returns ERROR for a value less than 50. The old 1200 geniune Hayes that I have will take values down to 1ms, and actually do it as well. Since my switch will reliably take 36ms, I see no reason to not allow me to dial at that speed. Anybody (Toby?) know why the newer modems are handicapped/differently-abled in this manner? Steve Forrette, forrette@cory.berkeley.edu [Moderator's Note: And while Toby is answering that, here is another question: how come US Robotics has a condition you can set which allows for 'quick dialing', or dialing without waiting the obligitory two seconds before starting? Hayes used to claim (maybe still do) that telco tariffs require a two second pause before dialing. You could not set that particular S-register less than 2. Telebit seems to feel the same way ... but USR lets you go off hook and bang those digits right out if you set the register for it. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #423 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa23468; 5 Jun 91 5:22 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ac06371; 5 Jun 91 3:48 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab06402; 5 Jun 91 2:40 CDT Date: Wed, 5 Jun 91 1:52:45 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #424 BCC: Message-ID: <9106050152.ab06609@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Wed, 5 Jun 91 01:52:32 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 424 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Free Teletypes [Roy M. Silvernail] Re: Motorola PC-500 Problems (was DiamondTel 99X) [Scott Stratmoen] Re: ONA Offers New Horizons for Telesleaze [Brandon S. Allbery] Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [Tom Perrine] Re: Cellular Modems [Dave Platt] Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security [Patton M. Turner] Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security [Max Rochlin] Re: Looking for Inexpensive Outside Wire [Jim Redelfs] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Free Teletypes From: "Roy M. Silvernail" Date: Mon, 03 Jun 91 22:55:36 CDT Organization: Villa CyberSpace, Minneapolis, MN wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (David Lesher) writes: > [about teletype machines and radio stations] > But that day, somebody at Cheyenne Mountain had loaded and fed, not > the weekly NORAD test tape, but the WAR! one. Confusion reigned across > the US as the wrong code was used to cancel the bogus message. Some > stations ignored it. Others followed the law and went off the air > ASAP. Hey, I remember that! It was 1973, I think ... my first year in radio. As I recall, the message I saw was the weekly Associated Press EBS test, but the AP threaded the wrong tape, and we saw the real McCoy message. The authentication codes checked out and everything. (big thrills as the news director finally got to rip open one of those red envelopes). We might have paid more attention, though, if it had come in some other time. The message arrived on Saturday, in the early afternoon (Bering Time), exactly the same time the AP _always_ ran the EBS test. I think AP began moving their tests around after that. It seems that very few stations took it seriously. > Can you imagine the look on the personality who finds a forest of > paper on the machine, most of which indicates that the USA has been at > war for four + hours, and Wxxx is still on the air? Gulp. Oh, yes, I can imagine. I also remember the look on an announcer's face when he was blasting through a bunch of news, and came across a wire piece that had actually been composed on the KSR tape-punch machine we had. It looked exactly like an authentic wire story, but was heavily peppered with un-airable expletives. He got about two syllables into it, and began to stammer and splutter, as we in the other room were collapsing in laughter. (radio folks are fun folks... some day, I'll tell you about getting pied in the face in the midst of a newscast :-) Roy M. Silvernail |+| roy%cybrspc@cs.umn.edu ------------------------------ From: Scott Stratmoen Subject: Re: Motorola PC-500 Problems (was DiamondTel 99X Weakness) Date: 2 Jun 91 15:23:57 GMT Organization: Scott Stratmoen, Arlington Heights, IL In article heiby@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com (Ron Heiby) writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 412, Message 6 of 14 > Saw your message about your PC-500. You refer to a *dealer* > dissatisfaction issue. Motorola loves its customers and your > satisfaction is our number one goal. Publishing dissatisfaction with > us rather than the dealer is counter-productive. You provide enough > information to infer that the phone was NOT NEW. If used, warranty is > NOT transferrable. Regardless, I would like to speak with you and > resolve to your satisfaction. If your Oki was NEW and your PC-500 was > NOT NEW, I say "No Fair." We stand behind our products and customers > -- period! > Our quality program is second to none. Our customers are our number > one priority. Not to draw out this discussion ... but let me clear up a few things. - In no way do I have dissatisfaction with my dealer. The only person who was dissatisfied was the owner who couldn't get rid of me. - All three of the PC-500 phones were new out of the box. (Not sure how this could have been a point of confusion.) - There is no question in my mind that customer satisfaction is a priority with Motorola. The service center in Arlington Hts., IL stated that they would repair said phones. I didn't want a repaired phone at a new price, but a new phone that worked. - Warranty repair of a new phone out the box only one to ten hours (depending on which of the three phones we are discussing) is not justified. The unit should just work. <- note period After three phones in four days, I just couldn't spend anymore time dealing with the situation. Thus the decision to switch to another vendor. Post sale support of a product is a must in a competitive market. But reputation is made, or lost, on the basis of delivering product of the highest quality possible off the factory floor. Scott Stratmoen ..!ast!freedm!scott scott@freedm.dsd.northrop.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 21:16:10 -0400 From: "Brandon S. Allbery KF8NH" Subject: Re: ONA Offers New Horizons for Telesleaze Reply-To: allbery@ncoast.org Organization: North Coast Public Access Un*x (ncoast) As quoted from by johnl@iecc.cambridge. ma.us (John R. Levine): (about advertizing between rings) > I don't know why it's suddenly coming back now, except perhaps that > the last of the old Bell System managers who thought of the phone > company as a service are retiring, and the new ones have less shame. I dunno, but it's been a progressive disease around here. First they combined the time and weather services, then they added advertising, then they moved it to a 900 number and put a current-time-and-temperature announcement on the old number with an advertisement for the 900 number (and, of course, they try to bore you off the phone before telling you how much it co$t$). I expect ads in the ring sequence wil be next. :-( At least they haven't figured out how to charge me for punching in 162.550 on my HT. :-) Me: Brandon S. Allbery KF8NH: DC to LIGHT! [44.70.4.88] Internet: allbery@NCoast.ORG Delphi: ALLBERY uunet!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!ncoast!allbery [Moderator's Note: Hadn't you heard that NOAA was going to begin selling advertising space on that mobious loop tape they play over and over for an hour at a time? Its true! :) Of course it is. :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tom Perrine Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World Date: 4 Jun 91 18:08:26 GMT Reply-To: Tom Perrine Organization: Logicon, Inc., San Diego, California In article Andy Sherman writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 420, Message 3 of 10 > In article , YSAR1111@vm1.yorku.ca (Rick > Broadhead) writes: > He might have hit a PBX or Centrex that uses a double ring to indicate > an outside call. Having moved around the Joisey locations of Bell > Labs quite a bit, I've encountered this feature in ESSX (a centrex), > Dimension, and System 85. Hmmm. Our brand-new ROLM 97xx signals with a double ring for an outside call, but the caller hears a single ring. Speaking of our brand-new system, several people have asked me (why me?) questions about DIDs. Is the following explanation correct: For an incoming (outside) call: The CO translates the dialed number and either: If it is POTS ("single-line home phone") routes it to the proper dedicated line. If it is a DID, discovers some kind of indication that this number should be routed to any of a set of trunks (our incoming trunks). The CO then picks any of the available incoming trunks (is this like a rotary?) and routes the call over that trunk to the PBX, passing the dialed number (destination) as well. The PBX then signals the instrument assigned that DID, and if it answers connects the trunk to the instrument. Notes: If all of the trunks are busy, the CO will signal busy to the caller, even if the instrument is on-hook, the PBX will never even see the call. When we get Caller-ID, if you have one of the ROLM 240XX phones, you will also see the phone number of the (outside) caller on the display. Am I even close? PS: I am also looking for any "stupid phonemail(tm) tricks" that anyone can suggest. I have a sense of humor that has been described as "strange, demented but never intentionally hostile". Something we can all laugh at here, as a way to make the new phone system a little less scary for some of our more telephobic employees. We have ROLM PhoneMail, Release 5.0. Tom Perrine (tep) |Internet: tep@tots.Logicon.COM |Voice: +1 619 597 7221 Logicon - T&TSD | UUCP: sun!suntan!tots!tep | or : +1 619 455 1330 P.O. Box 85158 |GENIE: T.PERRINE | FAX: +1 619 552 0729 San Diego CA 92138 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 91 10:42:44 PDT From: Dave Platt Subject: Re: Cellular Modems Organization: New Technologies Group, Inc. Palo Alto CA In article is written: > On the subject of cellular modems and laptops, I've run into something > that others might have encountered a fix for. It seems the > high-powered laptops such as the Toshiba 5200 don't have any provision > for running off of a 12-V DC input. I can imagine that your typical > low-power 12-V input might be insufficient to run something like this, > with a hard drive, 16 megs of memory, 25 MHz 386, VGA screen, etc. > However, we need something that powerful (and we need the slots). > Seeing as how a car battery can provide a substantial amount of power, > I was wondering if anyone knew of any product that would allow us to > run something like this off of the car's lighter jack, or even to hook > directly to the battery if necessary. Or of any portable with that > much power and a slot that you can take along with your cellular > phone. There may be a very real, defensive reason (or two) for the lack of a +12 VDC power input. [1] Most of the "guts" of a laptop or cellular modem probably run on +5 volts. To be able to accept +12, one would need either a linear voltage regulator (which would dissipate, as heat, more than half of the power fed into it), or a switching regulator (which would add size, weight, and cost). [2] 12-volt power drawn from a car's electrical system is hazardous. If the engine is running, the accessory voltage is likely to be quite "dirty", with sags and spikes and high-frequency noise from the ignition, other loads cutting in and out, etc. The auto environment is considered to be "electrically hostile"... audio amplifiers, CD players, etc. which are designed to operate in this environment must include a good deal of overvoltage/spike suppression, etc. The CMOS components in a laptop are quite vulnerable to spikes and surges. If you want to run a laptop, cellular, etc. from an auto's electrical system, you'll probably have to buy an external high-amperage 12-volt- to-5-volt stepdown regulator (probably a switcher, with extensive surge protection and some big filter capacitors), and a "cheater" which will let you plug the regulator's output into the laptop's charger input or directly to the battery-compartment contacts. I'd suggest that you check your insurance and warranty, as well ... it'd be a shame if a spike from the ignition fried your laptop. If you were thinking of running your laptop from the car's battery, with the ignition off: be advised that most auto batteries are not intended for deep discharge. They're designed to provide large amounts of current in short bursts, and to be recharged immediately and kept "topped up" by the alternator. A "low maintenance" or "no maintenance" auto battery can be ruined by only a few deep-discharge/recharge cycles ... it will lose its ability to hold a charge. If you really want to run your high-amperage laptop from an external battery, you'll probably want to get something along the lines of a deep-discharge lead/acid battery, such as are often sold for marine or RV applications. These batteries are designed to be able to be discharged most of the way to zero, and then recharged fully, a large number of times (the tradeoff being that they don't have the same peak-current output as a lead/acid battery designed for automotive use). You could charge this battery from an auto's alternator, or with a standalone battery charger. - Dave Platt VOICE: (415) 813-8917 Domain: dplatt@ntg.com UUCP: ...apple!ntg!dplatt USNAIL: New Technologies Group Inc. 2468 Embarcardero Way, Palo Alto CA 94303 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 91 19:48:03 CDT From: "Patton M. Turner" Subject: Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security > on that one they had me unpack the analyzer so they could run some > sort of explosives sniffer over it. No one ever asked me to actually > turn it on, though. The sniffer usually checks for nitrates, which are used in virtually all explosives as oxidizers. As Steven King pointed out this is a much better way to check suspicious bagagge than asking you to "Turn it on." No suprise Israel is using the latest equipment. There was a move to install them at US airports, but it died (no irony/pun intended). At one time Israel placed all baggage in a decompression chamber before loading it on planes. I guess they still do. No wonder they don't have any sucessful bombing/skyjacking since the days of Entebe. Patton Turner KB4GRZ pturner@eng.auburn.edu ------------------------------ From: Max Rochlin Subject: Re: Cellular "Harrassment" at Airport Security Organization: Gupta Technologies Inc Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 21:18:10 GMT In article alexb@cfctech.cfc.com (Alex Beylin) writes: > I've always wondered what they do with laptops that require AC power > to operate. Is there a three-prong AC plug at the security station? Yes there is. I've got a Toshiba 5200 that I've been asked to turn on more than once. Three-prong plugs are always nearby. For fun, I changed my os-prompt to: "Yes, this really is a computer and thanks for checking" Which amuses most airport security guards. | max@gupta.com | Max J. Rochlin | decwrl!madmax!max | ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Jun 91 21:28:36 CST From: Jim Redelfs Subject: RE: Re: Looking for Inexpensive Outside Wire Reply-To: ivgate!macnet!jim.redelfs@uunet.uu.net Organization: Macnet Omaha Patton M. Turner wrote: > C-wire (drop wire) is hard to beat if you are going to use unshelded > cable. It can be run overhead or plowed in the ground. C Rural Wire is TOUGH stuff, but buried? I've never seen it buried in my experience or heard of doing so before. I recommend against direct burial of C Rural Wire. It is designed as an AERIAL wire (1-pr/1-line wire) and not really even as a "drop" wire. C Rural Wire is used for exceptionally LONG aerial spans whose length would cause ordinary F Service Wire (aerial drop wire) to fail at the P-clamps or break in the span. A typical C Rural Wire installation includes terminating the C Rural Wire at the pole closest to the station where it is connected with a 105 block to conventional F Service Wire for the final span to the station. Considering the scenerio: phone service wire placed through "woods" in an area of clay/compacted soil. Ordinarily, a vibratory lawn plow would do a satisfactory installation but, considering the likely encounters with numerous, substantial tree roots, a trencher would work MUCH better. If the service MUST be hung, I would probably forgo the luxury and expense of poles and simply hang the spans, with PLENTY of slack, from the existing trees. AT&T's Phoenix Works manufactures an EXCELLENT, 5-pair, jelly-filled buried service "wire". JR --- Tabby 2.2 MacNet Omaha 402-289-2899 On loan from Mrs MacWidow (1:285/14) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #424 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa25805; 5 Jun 91 6:27 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa08913; 5 Jun 91 4:54 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab06371; 5 Jun 91 3:40 CDT Date: Wed, 5 Jun 91 2:38:35 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #425 BCC: Message-ID: <9106050238.ab07930@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Wed, 5 Jun 91 02:38:14 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 425 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Are Telco Profits Too Large? [andrewf@syacus.acus.oz] Re: Modification of Ringback Tone by Subscriber Apparatus [Tom Gray] Re: 900 Numbers and Privacy [John R. Levine] Re: 908 Area Code Switchover [Carl Moore] Re: Videophones? Telewriters? [Sandy Kyrish] Re: Alexander Graham Bell Movie on AMC [Dave Levenson] Re: Surprise!! [Larry Jones] Re: MCI $20 Promotion [Bryan Reid] Re: PacBell Does Something Right [Martin McCormick] Re: The FCC Says it Wants to Hear From You! [Ronald Greenberg] Re: Rotary Dial Phones Forgotten But Not Gone [Martin McCormick] Re: Cellular One Dialing Procedures [Tony Harminc] Caller ID Spreads From Atlanta to Athens [Glenn F. Leavell] How Do You Deal With Central Office Problems? [Steve Forrette] Busying Out a Phone With a Resister [Marc Unangst] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: andrewf@syacus.acus.oz Subject: Re: Are Telco Profits Too Large Date: Wed, 5 Jun 91 15:23:29 EST Subject: Re: Are Telco Profits Too Large? 0004322955@mcimail.com (Guy J. Sherr) writes: > You may wish to remind some of us that English notation given as a > billion is actually a number with 12 zeroes, and not 9. 3000 billion > pounds sterling would therefore be 3,000,000,000,000,000 pounds > sterling written out, and I believe worth approximately 4.5 > quadrillion US dollars (apologies to those following the exchange > rate). This number seems to be inaccurate. It is more than 50 years > of the United States's GNP. I suspect the situation regarding millions is the same in the U.K. as it is here. Financial institutions and others reporting financial results usually (incorrectly) use the US convention rather than the English one. I presume this is to make their results sound more impressive. Nevertheless, the original posting poses an interesting question: How can companies that make large profits, be fullfilling their community service obligations, which should include pricing their calls as cheaply as possible. The usual answer is that large profits are needed to finance new equipment. Of course, most residential subscribers don't give a hang about new technology so long as reliability compares favourably with price. ------------------------------ From: Tom Gray Subject: Re: Modification of Ringback Tone by Subscriber Apparatus Date: 4 Jun 91 12:44:43 GMT Organization: Mitel. Kanata (Ontario). Canada. >> Were you calling a commercial establishment? A college dorm or campus? >> Some other place where you were dialing directly to an extension of a large >> private network? > To answer your question: I heard the double-ring when calling the > "Management Services" department at Toronto City Hall. The double ring will indicate that the destination has answered your call on its own equipment. The real implication of this is that you are now being billed for the time that you are listening to ringing. Tom Gray ------------------------------ Subject: Re: 900 Numbers and Privacy Organization: I.E.C.C. Date: 4 Jun 91 14:04:53 EDT (Tue) From: "John R. Levine" In article is written: > One very simple way to find your "nine-closest neighbors" is by using > ZIP + 4. ... I discovered that I share a ZIP + 4 with *one* neighbor. > I do not know how ZIP + 4 deals with high-occupancy buildings, but I > suspect that a ZIP + 4 could be set up to handle one or more floors of > a single building. ZIP + 4 is probably how they do closest neighbors. For large buildings, a single building or even a single office in a building can have its own zip. For PO boxes, a group of boxes or a single box gets a zip (anything sent to zip 02238-0349 comes to me, for example.) Finding the nine people with the closest zips would be a pretty good approximation to the closest neighbors. Using that to make mailing lists is still a pretty unpleasant idea. Perhaps we could try to add language to the Markey bill forbidding the use of CLID and ANI info for anything other than call billing and verification. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 91 10:15:22 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: 908 Area Code Switchover I believe the 908 area code became available in January 1991 (not 1990). ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 91 13:49 GMT From: Sandy Kyrish <0003209613@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Videophones? Telewriters? Responding to Artur Matuck's request: Common telewriter vendors: Optel Communications in New York City; DataBeam in Lexington, KY; Shure Brothers in (yes, indeed) Chicago, IL. Common videophone vendors: VideoTeleCom in Austin, TX; Compression Labs in San Jose, CA; PictureTel in the Boston area. Also, the International Teleconferencing Association is having its annual trade show in Washington DC on June 25-27. For info call ITCA at 202-833-2549. Be forewarned that "videophones" do not run on POTS lines, but telewriters do. Videophones mentioned above need digital circuits. Sandy Kyrish 320-9613@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: Dave Levenson Subject: Re: Alexander Graham Bell Movie on AMC Date: 3 Jun 91 01:41:37 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA In article , irvin@northstar105.dartmouth. edu writes: > The above is from OnSat Magazine. Since, I don't subscribe to AMC (or > any subscription channels), I guess I'll have to find someone with > cable who will let me watch it ;). You might want to check it out. Here in NJ, AMC is not offered as a premium channel, but as a standard channel, included in the basic monthly cable rate. The movie on A. G. Bell, incidentally, appears several times a year on AMC, and is worth watching! Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ From: Larry Jones Subject: Re: Surprise!! Date: 3 Jun 91 15:43:13 GMT Organization: SDRC, Cincinnati In article , woody@ucscb.ucsc.edu (Bill Woodcock) writes: > Does this mean that after the 415/510 split, we'll be getting free > unlimited calls to a _different area code_ if we have flat-rate > service, and are calling back and forth from SF to the East Bay? Does > that happen anywhere else? Here in Cincinnati we not only get free unlimited calls to a different area code, we get free unlimited calls to TWO different area codes in two different states! Cincinnati Bell is one of the smaller phone companies and only server the Cincinnati vacinity. Due to the location of Cincinnati, this includes pieces of southwest Ohio, northern Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana. Larry Jones, SDRC, 2000 Eastman Dr., Milford, OH 45150-2789 513-576-2070 Domain: scjones@sdrc.com Path: uunet!sdrc!scjones ------------------------------ From: Doctor Math Subject: Re: MCI $20 Promotion Date: Sun, 02 Jun 91 10:43:15 EST Organization: Department of Redundancy Department asuvax!gtephx!andersonr@ncar.ucar.edu (Rick Anderson) writes: > I believe MCI is currently undergoing a nationwide promotion whereby > they will give you $20 if you switch over to them as your primary > carrier. I recently received a check in the mail from MCI for $20. > The check was a normal check on the front, but on the back, it said if > I endorsed and cashed the check, I would be switched over to MCI. > My question to the net: is it legally feasible to cross out this > endorsement message, sign the check, collect the $20, and then legally > expect to not be switched over to MCI?? > [Moderator's Note: As soon as you cross out the special endorsement > you no longer have the right to cash the check which was issued as > payment for your having given permission to change your phones. . . .] What if your BOC requires carrier changes in writing from YOU, the customer? [Moderator's Note: If your teleco requires written notices of changes, then MCI would comply by sending them the endorsement you signed on the chedk. That would serve as the written notice. PAT] ------------------------------ From: reid@pa.dec.com (Brian Reid) Subject: Re: PacBell Does Some Subject: Re: The FCC Says it Wants to Hear From You! > "The FCC's first look at `Networks of the Future' won't be > it's last, according to Office of Plans and Policy Chief Robert > Pepper, who is considering how commissiners can get more regular > contact with telecom industry players whose jobs are not wooing > Washington. How about telling him to post to the net solicitations for comments on specific issues as they arise? Ronald I. Greenberg rig@eng.umd.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 91 11:50:27 CDT From: u1906ad@unx.ucc.okstate.edu Subject: Re: Rotary Dial Phones Forgotten But Not Gone brian@ucsd.edu (Brian Kantor) writes: > Ken Oberman wondered when COs would stop supporting pulse-dial > (rotary) phones. Well, PBX's already have; the UCSD Ericsson MD-110 > will not allow an extension phone to pulse-dial any number with a "1" > (one) in it -- it interprets the single pulse as a switchhook flash and > gives you a fresh dialtone. Oklahoma State University has had an Ericsson MD110 switch in use since Fall of 1988. It is a truly digital PBX with the vast majority of campus phones having A/D D/A converters in their bases. While I've been told that the signal on each wire pair is proprietary, it is pretty close to ISDN. Such indications as on-hook, off-hook, ring and caller id information are all just digital codes sent on the control channel. The situation that Bryan described regarding getting a fresh dial tone each time the hook was flashed sounds precisely like what happens when you flash the hook on an Ericsson digital phone. Ericssen also makes an analog line card which plugs into the MD110 switch so as to support such things as fax machines and the radio paging system operated by our physical plant. The analog line unit provides all of the standard telephone signals and will accept either pulse or tone dialing. The best way to tell what kind of Ericsson line one is on is to listen to the sound of the line as you dial a number. On a digital line, there is absolutely nothing heard between the dial tone and the first ring. Martin McCormick Amateur Radio WB5AGZ Oklahoma State University Computer Center Data Communication sGroup Stillwater, OK ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 04 Jun 91 10:51:28 EDT From: Tony Harminc Subject: CRe: Cellular One Dialing Procedures John Higdon wrote: >> "All of our switches are programmed from Toronto, thus you can't >> talk to the guy in charge of switch programming." > That's a good one. I guess if the programmers are actually in Toronto, > there are no telephone circuits there so it would be impossible to > talk to them. On the other hand, GTE's switches are programmed from > Houston and I have talked to programmers for that company. Yes - here in Toronto we all use tin cans and string (digital string of course). Now the curious question is why Cellular One's switches would be programmed here. The only switch maker I know in Toronto is Northern Telecom. Or is it perhaps that Cellular One is owned by a Toronto based company ? Cantel (the nation-wide "A" carrier) is into all sorts of other technical ventures. Perhaps they're the culprit. Tony H. ------------------------------ From: "Glenn F. Leavell" Subject: Caller ID spreads from Atlanta to Athens Organization: University of Georgia Economics Department Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1991 04:31:43 GMT For anyone who is keeping track out there: As of June 3, Caller-ID is available in Athens, Georgia. Southern Bell reports that they hope to provide the service to all of their service areas in the state by mid-1991 (which, in my book, is just about to arrive!). Glenn F. Leavell Systems Administrator glenn@rigel.econ.uga.edu 404-542-3488 University of Georgia Economics Department. 147 Brooks Hall. Athens, GA 30602 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 91 22:37:57 -0700 From: Steve Forrette Subject: How do You Deal With Central Office Problems? Tim Irvin writes: > What is really strange (off the subject -- sorry Pat), is that any of > these numbers gets a recording (in fact any unused number in the area) > that says, "The number you have reached X-X-X X-X-X-X is being checked > for trouble, please try your call again later." This was a problem > when I was giving a friend my new number, but I gave him the wrong > number, and he tried to reach me for over a week, continually getting > " ...checked for trouble...". He finally called DA and discovered he > had the wrong number. Does anyone have ideas as to how to get these types of problems resolved? I've tried in vain on a couple of occasions to get Pacific Bell to fix wrong recordings or other minor CO trouble, and Repair Service seems very uninterested. At first, they can't understand the problem, and resort to "we just tested your line, and didn't find anything wrong." Once I convince them that it's not "in my line", they take the report, the ticket soon gets cleared, and the problem is still there. I've all but given up. During my recent move, there was a half-day delay between my old service disconnect and the referral starting to work. In the meantime, the "... is being checked for trouble, please try your call again later" recording was active. Since I receive business calls on that line, I was somewhat disappointed at this situation. A call to the business office revealed that this was quite normal. A very poor standard practice, I would say. Steve Forrette, forrette@cory.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ Subject: Busying Out a Phone With a Resistor? From: Marc Unangst Date: Tue, 04 Jun 91 23:31:27 EDT Organization: The Programmer's Pit Stop, +1 313 665 2832 I recently had one modem in the middle of a 15-line hunt group go out. Not wanting to move the rest of the modems up a line each, I did some investigation with a VOM and a telephone, and discovered that plugging a 270 ohm resistor into the phone line (across tip and ring) should have almost the exact same effect as an off-hook telephone does -- thus busying out the line. Now, my question is, is there anything wrong with doing something like this? Will a 1/2W resistor be enough? Is this an "accepted" way of busying out a phone line? Marc Unangst mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us !hela!mudos!mju ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #425 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa27335; 6 Jun 91 3:45 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa16760; 6 Jun 91 2:15 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa22694; 6 Jun 91 1:07 CDT Date: Thu, 6 Jun 91 0:53:19 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #426 BCC: Message-ID: <9106060053.ab16014@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Thu, 6 Jun 91 00:52:57 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 426 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Pet Peeve About Newer Modems (was Telephone Keypads) [Jamie Mason] Re: Pet Peeve About Newer Modems (was Telephone Keypads) [Marc T. Kaufman] Re: Surprise!! [Dennis Blyth] Re: Surprise!! [Nick Sayer] Re: Cellular Modems [Patton M. Turner] Re: One City With Two Area Codes [Linc Madison] Re: Telephone Advertising Consumer Rights Act [Linc Madison] Re: PacBell Does Something Right [Dave Levenson] Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [Tim Irvin] Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [Brian Charles Kohn] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jamie Mason Subject: Re: Pet Peeve About Newer Modems (was Telephone Keypads) Organization: University of Toronto Computer Services Advisor Date: Wed, 5 Jun 1991 03:41:54 -0400 In article forrette@cory.berkeley.edu (Steve Forrette) writes: > This reminds me of a "pet peeve" (sic?) that I have with the newer > modems. Both the Hayes 9600 V-series and the $74 2400 card-modem I > have won't accept an ATS11 value (DTMF duration) of less than 50ms. > The default seems to be 100ms. The Hayes will take a smaller value, > but use 50 during tone generation. The clone returns ERROR for a > value less than 50. The old 1200 geniune Hayes that I have will take > values down to 1ms, and actually do it as well. The default on my modem (an old USRobotics "VARmodem" 2400 internal) for the tone generation is 70ms. 70ms is obnoxiously slow, as it is. *How* can they set their *fastest* speed to 50? I guess it is like those databases which try to get smart about names, and inevitably end up mangling esoteric names; you know a little more about your CO switch than the modem, but the modem won't give you the benefit of the doubt. My modem, like your old 1200, will go right down to 1ms, but the 1ms is a pretty feeble attempt at DTMF. > [Moderator's Note: And while Toby is answering that, here is another > question: how come US Robotics has a condition you can set which > allows for 'quick dialing', or dialing without waiting the obligitory > two seconds before starting? Hayes used to claim (maybe still do) > that telco tariffs require a two second pause before dialing. You > could not set that particular S-register less than 2. Telebit seems > to feel the same way ... but USR lets you go off hook and bang those > digits right out if you set the register for it. PAT] What S-Register is that? I know how to set my tone-generation rate really fast, but I don't see an S-register which controls how long my modem waits between taking the phone off the hook and dialing. My modem seems to wait for a dialtone before dialing. (Smart, eh?) As for the two second delay, while two seconds is a little long (restrictive) in the usual style of Phone Company tarrifs, *some* delay *is* required. Dialing on my phone, I have to wait about one second before I get the dial tone. I can't dial sooner, or it will miss some digits. Anyone know *why* 35ms (or 36ms) seems to be a universal limit on modern exchanges? Is this designed in? Also, I have heard of, but never heard officially, of a telco tariff which requires that autodialers not retry the same number more than ten0 times in a row automatically. This lead to: a) some crippled terminal programs which won't do more than ten retries before having to be restarted, and b) crippled hardware -- my DUoFone 195 (an old Radio Shack gadget) has an auto redialer which keeps trying till there's no more busy. But it will only try a maximum of ten times. Of course, this is all obsolete now, in the days of Call Return, where the Network does it for you. Jamie [Moderator's Note: Register S-6 in many modems sets the length of time to wait off hook before dialing. In the USR, the command ATX6 overrides the two second delay and dials immediatly. The ten attempt limit is to prevent repeated harassment of people who get wronh number calls intended for modems. Telco's repeat dialing feature won't change this; the modem does not care if it dials 7-D or *66. After ten tries, it will stop dialing. PAT] ------------------------------ From: "Marc T. Kaufman" Subject: Re: Pet Peeve About Newer Modems (was Telephone Keypads) Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University, Ca , USA Date: Wed, 5 Jun 1991 15:42:18 GMT > to feel the same way ... but USR lets you go off hook and bang those > digits right out if you set the register for it. PAT] The regulation in question is 68.314(a)(2), but it applies to answer, not originate: 68.314 Billing Protection (a) Call duration requirements on data equipment connected to the Public Switched Network, or to Tie Trunks, or to Private Lines that access the Public Switched Network. (2) Registered terminal Equipment Registered terminal equipment for data applications shall assure that, when an incoming telephone call is answered, the answering terminal equipment prevents both transmission and reception of data for at least two seconds after the answering terminal equipment transfers to the off-hook condition. Marc Kaufman (kaufman@Neon.stanford.edu) ------------------------------ From: Dennis Blyth Subject: Re: Surprise!! Date: 5 Jun 91 20:24:08 GMT Reply-To: Dennis Blyth Organization: NCR International - Europe Group, Dayton In Cincinnati Bell territory, one can call from a residence phone in Hamilton, Ohio (about 30 miles north of the Ohio river) to the Cincinnati International airport (CVG -- code named short for 'Covington' -- because the Cincinnati airport actually is in Northern Kentucky, about 15 miles south of the Ohio river) for the price of a local call. For residences, this is non-measured service. Admittedly only certain exchanges in Hamilton have this service, and one pays extra (less than $ 2, in my recollection), but, oh, boy, what a deal!! BTW, is this the furthest distance one can go, 'toll free' in the states. (Pls, no flames for 800 service, I'm new to the net and somewhat sensitive!) ------------------------------ From: Nick Sayer Subject: Re: Surprise!! Date: 5 Jun 91 22:11:34 GMT Organization: The Duck Pond, Stockton, CA sdrc!scjones%thor@uunet.uu.net (Larry Jones) writes: > In article , woody@ucscb.ucsc.edu (Bill > Woodcock) writes: >> Does this mean that after the 415/510 split, we'll be getting free >> unlimited calls to a _different area code_ if we have flat-rate >> service, and are calling back and forth from SF to the East Bay? Does >> that happen anywhere else? > Here in Cincinnati we not only get free unlimited calls to a different > area code, we get free unlimited calls to TWO different area codes in > two different states! Cincinnati Bell is one of the smaller phone > companies and only server the Cincinnati vacinity. Due to the > location of Cincinnati, this includes pieces of southwest Ohio, > northern Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana. Given the post-Greene reality, would it not make a BIT of sense to reform area codes a bit? How about one simple rule: No area code could be in two LATAs? A LATA can have more than one area code, on any boundary convenient to the local BOC, but the area codes within a LATA would be unique to that LATA. Yes, this will make a mess in the short term. In the long term, however, it would become a hell of a lot easier to figure out how your call would be billed. It would also simplify new area code assignment, I would think. Nick Sayer mrapple@quack.sac.ca.us N6QQQ 209-952-5347 (Telebit) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Jun 91 04:58:46 CDT From: "Patton M. Turner" Subject: Re: Cellular Modems > high-powered laptops such as the Toshiba 5200 don't have any provision > for running off of a 12-V DC input. I can imagine that your typical > low-power 12-V input might be insufficient to run something like this, > with a hard drive, 16 megs of memory, 25 MHz 386, VGA screen, etc. > However, we need something that powerful (and we need the slots). > Seeing as how a car battery can provide a substantial amount of power, > I was wondering if anyone knew of any product that would allow us to > run something like this off of the car's lighter jack, or even to hook > directly to the battery if necessary. In addition to an inverter, which will generate a square wave with the same RMS voltage as AC line current at up to several thousand watts, there is another solution: the Adapata80 and 30. These do not produce AC current, and only work with switching type power supplies. The adaptors produce 80 and 30 watts respectivly, and weigh about 1 pound. They include a cigrette lighter plug for the DC and a 110 volt receptacle for the output to the computer These adaptors being upstream of the power supply should avoid "noise problems" from the car's electrical system. One of these adaptors is being used by the Agricultural Engineering department here at Auburn, I'll check with them regarding their experience with it. The company's address is: Product R&D Corporation 1194 Pacific St. Suite 201 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 I hope this helps, I'll E-mail any aditional information. Patton Turner KB4GRZ pturner@eng.auburn.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Jun 91 02:55:08 PDT From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: One City With Two Area Codes Organization: University of California, Berkeley In article Scott Barman (scott@nbc1.ge. com) writes: > It was announced not too long ago that the Bronx will be changed to > 718 so that Manhattan will be the only borough with the 212 area code. > Also, NY Tel also announced that a new area code (917) will > be used for cellular phones and beepers in New York City ... Does anyone have a list of prefixes in 212/718? Is it really true that none of the 212 prefixes in the Bronx are duplicated in 718? If so, then either NY Tel anticipated this situation (in which case, why didn't they just throw the Bronx into 718 in the original split?) or they got astoundingly lucky. Also, a quick look at the NPA/NXX list shows 718 with about 400 prefixes in use, and 212 with about 660. If even 1/3 of the prefixes in 212 are Bronx exchanges, it won't be long before 718 gets split again. Linc Madison = linc@tongue1.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Jun 91 03:57:11 PDT From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Telephone Advertising Consumer Rights Act (HR1 Organization: University of California, Berkeley In article Bill Parrish (bparrish@hprnd. rose.hp.com) writes: > Re: HR1304 (Markey) Bill > "Telephone Solicitation" is defined as "the initiation of a telephone > message for the purpose of encouraging a person to purchase, rent, or > invest in property, goods, or services without that person's prior > express invitation or permission". Note the exclusion of > fund-raising. Maybe the politicians still want to be able to do it > themselves? [No, I'm not a lawyer, but...] There's an interesting point of Constitutional law involved. It turns out that if you have a "NO SOLICITING" sign on the front of your house, it is entirely legal for someone to come to your door anyway and solicit you for POLITICAL purposes, because the First Amendment right of the solicitor to engage in political speech outweighs the right of the would-not-be solicitee to discourage it. ...or so I was told when I had a summer job soliciting for a political organization (CalPIRG). Of course, there is the practical consideration that the "yield" from houses with "NO SOLICITING" signs was rather lower than the incidence of rather nasty-looking Dobermans growling through the screen door. Regarding the Florida state tax on interstate telephone charges, the Supreme Court ruled about three years ago that it is legal for them to tax interstate telephone charges, notwithstanding obviously contradictory clauses of the U.S. Constitution. I pay the City of Berkeley 6.5% for my out-of-state calls, although, oddly, it appears that the State of California hasn't hitched onto this gravy train. Linc Madison = linc@tongue1.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ From: Dave Levenson Subject: Re: PacBell Does Something Right Date: 5 Jun 91 11:35:52 GMT Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA In article , john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: [regarding Pac*Bell's installation of ten individual single-pair drops on his residence] > A recently suggested theory is that this is PacBell's infliction of > punishment for my having so many lines. Now for $300/month, it could > all be provided on T1. Hmmmm .... could it be a sales pressure tactic? ^^^^^ ^ ^ Hey, John, is looks like one of your ten single-drop loops may be unbalanced! Is that $300/month in addition to the monthly rate for service on the ten loops? Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ Reply-To: irvin@northstar.dartmouth.edu Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Date: Wed, 05 Jun 91 11:53:53 -0400 From: irvin@lombard.dartmouth.edu In TELECOM Digest V11 #423, Joshua E. Muskovitz writes: > I've been an MCI customer for years and I've ALWAYS (well, with one > exception noted below) had my MCI calling card be the same first 10 > digits of my phone, and then a different PIN from the RBOC. Makes > sense to me. All I have to remember is which PIN to use. > The only time this didn't work was after my last move. The MCI rep > set up my account incorrectly (but issued cards). After realizing the > mistake, they cancelled service and set it up again (this time > correctly). This was in a matter of minutes. But when they went to > issue me a calling card (for the new account), the computer recognised > that a card had been issued for that phone number and instead issued a > scrambled card number. US Sprint (or is it just Sprint now) hasn't issued FON Cards with you phone number on it for sometime now. A couple of moves ago the rep told me my new card would be some random 14 digit number. Not wanting to have to memorize 14 random digits, I asked her if there was anyway to request that my card have my phone number as the first 10-digits. She said no way (security precautions -- something about people having roommates and the security problems that brought about -- seemed like hoky to me). She did say that I could keep my present card number if I wanted. So I did. Now two moves later (and two phone numbers later), I still have my old FON card with my old telephone number on it. Seems strange when I get the bill and my 2 phone numbers are listed followed by this old phone number from 1/2 way across the country. Tim Irvin ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Jun 91 12:24:54 EDT From: Brian Charles Kohn Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Reply-To: "bicker@hoqax.ATT.COM" Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Quality Process Center [Brian = bicker@hoqax.att.com (Brian Charles Kohn): > Actually ... the new calling card number will be different from ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > your phone number. It will be a new 14 digit number to ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > remember. > I don't understand the above statement. > My Calling Card (issued two years ago) has a number that is not my > home or other phone number Then you already have one of these new type calling card numbers (for domestic use) ... people like SE have not ... the first ten digits of their calling card number have been their telephone number. Brian Charles Kohn AT&T Bell Laboratories Quality Process Center Quality Management System E-MAIL: att!hoqax!bicker (bicker@hoqax.ATT.COM) Consultant PHONE: (908) 949-5850 FAX: (908) 949-7724 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #426 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa00504; 6 Jun 91 4:54 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab19954; 6 Jun 91 3:24 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id ab16760; 6 Jun 91 2:16 CDT Date: Thu, 6 Jun 91 1:28:41 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #427 BCC: Message-ID: <9106060128.ab28840@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Thu, 6 Jun 91 01:27:56 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 427 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Free Teletypes [Steven S. Brack] Re: MCI's $20 Promotion [Ron Dippold] Re: Modification of Ringback Tone by Subscriber Apparatus [John R. Covert] Re: Modification of Ringback Tone by Subscriber Apparatus [John Higdon] Re: Cellular One Dialing Procedures [John R. Covert] Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [William F Thompson] Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? [Robert L. Oliver] Re: Ringing Tones Around the World [Carl Moore] Re: Busying Out a Phone With a Resistor? [Toby Nixon] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Free Teletypes From: "Steven S. Brack" Date: Mon, 03 Jun 91 17:10:25 EDT Organization: Blue Moon BBS ((614) 868-998[0][2][4]) wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (David Lesher) writes: > [about teletype machines and radio stations] > 1945 > {The Cleveland Press}, like any other paper of its time, had many > machines. There was the A wire, the sports, etc. etc. > Well, they sat next to each other in the City Room, and made non-stop > noise. If one was stopped, another three were sure to be running. You > just ignored it. If the circuits died, they ran 'open' (clacking but > not printing anything) until the loop was fixed. > But late that summer, they ALL stopped at once. Dead. The silence was > so profound that everyone in the building knew about it at once. > Silence continued. After an interval described by one there as > "seemingly hours later" but likely only a minute or so, they ALL > restarted with the same message -- the war was over. From what I understand of news teletypes, there is a break key which interrupts send/recieve along the TTY connection. This key must be held for one minute to silence the feeds on the line. (They apparently detect loss of transmiossion.) This method is used to clear the line for important transmissions, i.e. the end of WWII, the deaths of FDR & JFK, Nixon's resignation. > 1970's. > At a classical music station of some fame, located on a river with the > same name as the Prince of Wales (hint;-}) the machine sat way in the > back of the station, in a semi-soundproof phonebooth sized chamber. .... > But that day, somebody at Cheyenne Mountain had loaded and fed, not > the weekly NORAD test tape, but the WAR! one. Confusion reigned across > the US as the wrong code was used to cancel the bogus message. Some > stations ignored it. Others followed the law and went off the air > ASAP. The lead station in "our fair city" [the one that the others > have CONALRAD receivers tuned to] choose to ignore it. It took hours > to straighten out. How does the EBS/CONALRAD/SCATANA system work? I assume there is a great deal of telecom equipment used in its implementation. > Can you imagine the look on the personality who finds a forest of > paper on the machine, most of which indicates that the USA has been at > war for four + hours, and Wxxx is still on the air? Gulp. I read a report of a college AM station receiving a phone call to the effect that radicals had threatened to douse the city (somewhere in CA?) with a poisonous agent. The phone call was bogus, but convinced the student on duty to broadcast warnings to citizens that they should stay inside and close their windows (this occured, I recall, in the late summer - high temperatures). The hoax went largely unnoticed, because hardly anyone paid attention to the station that broadcast the warning! Steven S. Brack | sbrack%bluemoon@nstar.rn.com Jacob E. Taylor Honors Tower | sbrack@bluemoon.uucp The Ohio State University | sbrack@nyx.cs.du.edu 50 Curl Drive | sbrack@isis.cs.du.edu Columbus, Ohio 43210-1112 USA | brack@ewf.eng.ohio-state.edu +1 614 293 7383 or 419 474 1010 | Steven.S.Brack@osu.edu ------------------------------ From: Ron Dippold Subject: Re: MCI's $20 Promotion Organization: Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA Date: Wed, 5 Jun 91 18:09:49 GMT In article ivgate!macnet!jim.redelfs@ uunet.uu.net writes: [Regarding MCI's $20 check - the endorsement of which grants them permission to change your PIC (long distance carrier) to MCI] ... > "We" charge $5 (total) to change a customer's long distance > carrier. I wonder if MCI will allow THE CUSTOMER to pay that charge > (out of the $20 check)? I assume so. So the net value of the check > is reduced to >$15. After a period of time, the customer could > initiate a PIC-change to another carrier, incurring yet another $5 > charge by the RBOC. At that point, the net value of MCI's promotion > to the end user is a CLEAR, $10! Not a bad deal, really. It just > depends on how much value one places on his/ her time - to place the > PIC-change order. I imagine that MCI is willing to take the risk that once you've switched over to their service that you will be so impressed that you'll want to stay forever. Not unlike those record clubs. And if they _did_ stipulate that you couldn't switch back to AT&T or Sprint, that would appear as if they were unconfident of their service, and people wouldn't go for the offer because they wouldn't have a choice. So they weigh the risk that you'll do two quick switches, losing them $20, against the odds that you'll stay on as a customer, gaining them quite a bit in the long run, they hope. Standard disclaimer applies, you legalistic hacks. | Ron Dippold ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Jun 91 11:44:05 PDT From: "John R. Covert 05-Jun-1991 1440" Subject: Re: Modification of Ringback Tone by Subscriber Apparatus >> To answer your question: I heard the double-ring when calling the >> "Management Services" department at Toronto City Hall. > The double ring will indicate that the destination has answered your > call on its own equipment. The real implication of this is that you > are now being billed for the time that you are listening to ringing. Tom, for the Management Services department at Toronto City Hall, this is not the case. As has already been explained, when a PBX has DID trunks, audible ringing tone is returned to the caller directly from the PBX, which can ring any way it pleases. This earlier response was correct, and yours was incorrect. Specifically, 416 392-7715 rings with double ring, but you are not billed until someone answers. I have verified this from a trunk which provides positive indication of answer supervision. john ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Jun 91 08:56 PDT From: John Higdon Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: Modification of Ringback Tone by Subscriber Apparatus Tom Gray writes: > The double ring will indicate that the destination has answered your > call on its own equipment. The real implication of this is that you > are now being billed for the time that you are listening to ringing. Not generally true. If the reason you are hearing an unusual ringing signal involves a PBX, it is probably a DID connection. Answer supervision occurs when, and only when, the call is picked up by the ringing extension. Busy, no answer, and even local customer intercept recordings do not return supervision on a properly set up PBX. In essence, the PBX becomes the terminating CO. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Jun 91 12:08:57 PDT From: "John R. Covert 05-Jun-1991 1446" Subject: Re: Cellular One Dialing Procedures > Now the curious question is why Cellular One's switches would be > programmed here. The only switch maker I know in Toronto is Northern > Telecom. Or is it perhaps that Cellular One is owned by a Toronto > based company ? Cantel (the nation-wide "A" carrier) is into all > sorts of other technical ventures. Perhaps they're the culprit. Your guess that Cantel is somehow involved may be right on the mark. As was reported elsewhere, Bay Area Cellular has recently converted to an Ericsson (correctly spelled with the double "s") switch. Cantel is the largest single user of Ericsson switches, and may be providing the programming -- or Ericsson may have an office in Toronto where the programming is done. It seems to be the case throughout Cantel that local calls must be dialled without a "1", and I wonder why Cantel subscribers don't complain about the same problem of not being able to use repertory dialling when travelling. Someone asked about new features that Ericsson switches may provide: Cantel customers are able to be reached regardless of where they are, coast to coast in Canada, as well as in locations in the U.S. that are Ericsson switches directly linked to Cantel, without doing anything at all to indicate that they are in a new system. In addition, all their custom calling features, including three-way calling, call-forwarding, and call-waiting, continue to work wherever they go. The locations currently linked to Cantel are: Pittsburgh, Johnstown and Erie, Pa., Wheeling, W. Va., Albany, Rochester, and Buffalo, N.Y., Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint, Grand Rapids, Muskegon, and Saginaw, Mich., Toledo and Lima, Ohio, Jacksonville, Daytona, Orlando, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Miami, Fla. All the "A" systems in Washington and Oregon are in the process of being linked; they work at the moment if your Cantel number is a British Columbia number, and will work for all Cantel numbers within a few months. Presumably other Ericsson systems will be linked to Cantel (and to each other) as time goes on. Next time I travel in these areas, I'll have the option (and the need to decide) to use either my NYNEX number and Follow-Me-Roaming or my Cantel number and Call-Following. Of course, IS-41 is supposed to make all this possible so that all systems everywhere get interconnected, but the Judge Greene problem still exists for any cellular companies owned by Baby Bells -- and this includes those Cellular Ones owned by Southwestern Bell, or by PacTel, or by U.S. West. Cellular One in San Francisco (Bay Area Cellular) is a partnership of PacTel, McCaw, and one other minority owner. john ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Jun 91 16:46:11 EDT From: William F Thompson Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Organization: Tex and Edna Boil's Prairie Warehouse and Curio Emporium From article , by netnews@ulysses. att.com (Steve Bellovin): > Note that AT&T will *NOT* be providing card verification to other > interexchange carriers. This should deal with the oft-expressed > concerns of our customers that they not be billed by an AOS for calls > placed on an AT&T Card. > I hope this sets your mind at ease. >> Now I don't consider my friends, parents, and relatives to be all that >> ignorant on how to use a telephone, but I just can't see how THIS is >> going to be explained to them by AT&T and/or the BOCs. AT&T and the >> BOCs sure didn't do a good job when it came to warning people about >> AOSs until quite late in the game; I am wondering how much more >> confusion this nonsense will cause. > Tell them to use their AT&T Card. Period. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > Andy Sherman/AT&T Bell Laboratories/Murray Hill, NJ Andy couldn't be more correct. All you have to use in the future for calling card calls will be your NEW (and I stress NEW) AT&T calling card. Let me clear up some common misconceptions. First, there are three formats for the new AT&T calling card: a CCITT Full Format 21 digit card, an abbreviated 17 digit card, and what's known as a hyperdialed 14 digit calling card. All you will have to dial is 14 digits, period. Forever. The AT&T formats, as discussed by someone else, are as follows: CCITT Full Format 21 digit: 891288 XXXXXX XXXX L PINN where L is a Luhn check digit 891253 XXXXXX XXXX L PINN " " " " " " " Abbreviated 17 digit dialing: 288 XXXXXX XXXX PINN 253 XXXXXX XXXX PINN Hyperdialed 14 digit dialing: XXXXXX XXXX PINN You will only have to dial the 14 digits. So you only have to remember one new calling card number. And yes, you can bill your intralata calls to your AT&T card, but they are not carried by AT&T (of course). As far as I've heard, you will be able to choose your own PIN also. Most of these cards will be issued by the end of this year. Some of the cards already issued (Universal Cards, for example) start out with 507 and 508 as the Issuer ID. The fourth digit of a 14 digit AT&T issued calling card (the new ones, remember) will always be a 0 or a 1 (just like the old "shared" RAO cards). I hope I've answered some questions that you may have. You can drop me a line if you have any more questions. Bill Thompson att!ihlpf!foz ------------------------------ From: "Robert L. Oliver" Subject: Re: New PIN for my AT&T Card? Organization: Rabbit Software Corp. Date: 5 Jun 91 22:20:17 GMT wah@zach.fit.edu (Bill Huttig) writes: > ... the old non-subscriber cards are issued in area > code 507 and 508 with a exchange that is inposible (starting with a 0 > or 1) and are handled through various BOC's, I had one that was billed > by Cincinatti Bell a few years ago.... My Universal Card uses a number like this also. Robert Oliver Rabbit Software Corp. 215 993-1152 7 Great Valley Parkway East robert@hutch.Rabbit.COM Malvern, PA 19355 ...!uunet!cbmvax!hutch!robert ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Jun 91 10:31:25 EDT From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) Subject: Re: Ringing Tones Around the World The ABCDEF codes apparently are those in the British Telecom booklet dated September 1990 which I received recently. It shows Denmark as BD, not ED; apparently this is intended for people calling from the U.K. ------------------------------ From: Toby Nixon Subject: Re: Busying Out a Phone With a Resistor? Date: 5 Jun 91 17:48:25 GMT Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA In article , Marc Unangst writes: > I recently had one modem in the middle of a 15-line hunt group go out. > Not wanting to move the rest of the modems up a line each, I did some > investigation with a VOM and a telephone, and discovered that plugging > a 270 ohm resistor into the phone line (across tip and ring) should > have almost the exact same effect as an off-hook telephone does -- > thus busying out the line. Now, my question is, is there anything > wrong with doing something like this? Will a 1/2W resistor be enough? > Is this an "accepted" way of busying out a phone line? The FCC has said that it will no longer allow Part 68 registration of modems that busy out the line in this manner (i.e., by just going "off-hook"). Centrex is supposed to have a way to tell the CO that a particular line in a hunt group is unavailable. Bellcore is working on a DTMF signal that can be sent on the line to tell the switch that the circuit is busied-out (like the "Do Not Disturb" function on many PBXes). And FCC already specifies an RJ4MB data jack, in which, if you close the MB/MBC pair, notifies the switch that the circuit is busied-out. Nobody likes the RJ4MB solution, though, because it takes up an extra pair of wires for every circuit. The DTMF solution is what everybody is looking for. In the meantime, about the only way you can do it is by going "off-hook". Not being a hardware engineer, I can't comment on whether the resistor value you've chosen is appropriate for this function. I assume some of the telco experts here will comment for you. Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-840-9200 Telex 151243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 USA | Internet hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V11 #427 ******************************   Received: from hub.eecs.nwu.edu by mintaka.lcs.mit.edu id aa02795; 6 Jun 91 6:03 EDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa10181; 6 Jun 91 4:32 CDT Received: from mailinglists.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id aa19954; 6 Jun 91 3:16 CDT Date: Thu, 6 Jun 91 2:09:44 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #428 BCC: Message-ID: <9106060209.ab19557@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Thu, 6 Jun 91 02:09:12 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 428 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Hot Chips Symposium III [Martin Freeman] Fibre to the Home Conference [borys] What Will Turn the Telcos On [Peter Marshall] World War III [Ed Hopper] Programmable Modem Wanted [Chuck Hsiano] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Martin Freeman Subject: Hot Chips Symposium III Organization: Center for Integrated Systems, Stanford University, California Date: Tue, 4 Jun 91 19:48:47 GMT Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go On Vacation: HOT CHIPS SYMPOSIUM III A Symposium on High-Performance Chips (Advance Program) Sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society Technical Committee on Microprocessors Stanford University, Palo, Alto, California August 26-27, 1991 Attend HOT Chips III, a symposium on high-performance chips, which will bring together researchers and developers of chips used to construct high-performance workstations and systems. Enjoy the informal format offering interaction with speakers. This first two HOT Chips Symposiums were huge successes and prompted articles in three special issues of IEEE Micro magazine. This year's HOT Chips III will again bring you the latest developments in chip technology. ORGANIZING COMMITTEE General Chairman: Martin Freeman, Philips Research Program Co-Chairmen: Forest Baskett, Silicon Graphics John Hennessy, Stanford University Finance Chairman: Hasan AlKhatib, Santa Clara University Registration Chairman: Robert Stewart, Stewart Research Publication Chairman: Nam Ling, Santa Clara University Publicity Chairman: Andrew Goforth, NASA Ames Research Center Local Arrangements Chairman: Robert Stewart, Stewart Research PROGRAM COMMITTEE Forest Baskett, Silicon Graphics (Program Co-Chair) John Crawford, Intel David Ditzel, Sun Microsystems John Hennessy, Stanford University (Program Co-Chair) John Mashey, MIPS Computer Systems Teresa Meng, Stanford University Alan Smith, U.C. Berkeley PROGRAM August 26, 1991 - Dinkelspiel Auditorium 7:30 - 8:30 Onsite Registration 8:30 - 8:45 Welcome and Opening Remarks Martin Freeman, General Chair Forest Baskett and John Hennessy, Program Co-Chairs 8:45 - 10:15 High-Performance Processors - I . Viking: A Superscalar SPARC Processor Greg Blanck, Sun Microsystems & Steve Krueger, Texas Instruments . R4000 Technical Overview Tom Riordan, MIPS Computer Systems . High-Performance PA-RISC Processor for "Snakes" Workstation Mark Forsyth, Charles Kohlhardt, & Ruby Lee, Hewlett Packard 10:15 - 10:45 BREAK 10:45 - 12:15 Highly Parallel Chips . The LIFE Family of High-Performance Single Chip VLIWs Gerrit Slavenburg, Philips Research Palo Alto . The Message-Driven Processor William Dally, J. Stewart Fiske, Waldemar Horwat, John Keen, Richard Lethin, Michael Noakes, & Peter Nuth MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory D. Scott Wills University of Central Florida Andrew Chien University of Illinois Salim Ahmed, Paul Carrick, Roy Davison, Greg Fyler, Steve Lear, Mark Vestrich, & Ted Nguyen Intel . The TRW CPUAX Superchip: A 4.1 Million Transistor CMOS CPU A. Miscione, R. Almeida, H. Hennecke, & R. Mann TRW Micro Electronics 12:15 - 1:45 LUNCH 1:45 - 3:15 High-Performance Processors - II . An 80 MHz 64-Bit Floating Point RISC Processor with Direct DRAM Support James Hesson, Micron Technology . The 80860XP: 2nd Generation of the i860(tm) RISC Processor Family David Perlmutter & Michael Kagan, Intel Israel . Beyond Claims of Free Transistors and Abundant Instruction-Level Parallelism Michael Smith, Stanford University 3:15 - 3:45 BREAK 3:45 - 5:15 Low Power and Low Cost . SPARC System Chipset Greg Favor, Tera Microsystems . The SparKIT Chipset: How to Clone a Sparcstation Mohammed Wasfi, LSI Logic Corporation . SMM, The "Virtual 386(tm)" Dave Vannier, Intel 5:15 - 7:15 RECEPTION 7:30 EVENING PANEL SESSION: "Five Instructions Per Clock: Truth or Consequences" Alan Smith, U.C. Berkeley John Mashey, MIPS Computer Systems August 27, 1991 - Dinkelspiel Auditorium 8:00 - 9:00 Onsite Registration 9:00 - 10:30 Communications . A GaAs 200 Mbps 64x64 Crosspoint Chip Ron Cates, Vitesse Semiconductor . RN1: Low-Latency, Dilated, Crossbar Router Henry Minsky, Tom Knight, Andre' DeHon . The NEURON Chip Family Architecture Robert Dolin, Echelon . The Protocol Engine Chipset Greg Chesson, Silicon Graphics 10:30 - 11:00 BREAK 11:00 - 12:30 Caches and Floating Point . R4000 Cache Design Tradeoffs and Performance Earl Killian, MIPS Computer Systems . The Megacell Differentiated Floating Point Product Family Merrick Darley, Don Steiss, Peter Groves, David Bural, Maria Gill, & Tod Wolf Texas Instruments . High-Integration 2nd Level Cache for the i486 CPU Adi Gobert, Intel Corporation 12:30 - 2:00 LUNCH 2:00 - 3:30 Special Processors . C-Cube CL950 MPEG Video Decoder/Processor Stephen Purcell, C-Cube Microsystems . A Smart Frame Buffer Joel McCormack, DEC Western Research Laboratory . A High-Performance, Low-Cost Neural Chip Gary Tahara, Inova Microelectronics 3:30 - 4:00 BREAK 4:00 - 5:30 High-Performance Processors - III . National's Swordfish - A Superscalar with DSP Reuven Marko & Motti Beck, National Semiconductor . H1: A Superscalar Pipelined CPU Bob Krysiak, Richard Forsythe & Roger Sheperd INMOS Ltd. . The Pinnacle SPARC Module Raju Vegeshna, Ross Technology 5:30 Closing Remarks HOUSING INFORMATION Housing is available on the Stanford University campus in Stern Hall, a short walk from Dinkelspiel Auditorium where the symposium will be held. Housing is in student residences with central lavatory facilities and costs $40 per night. A key deposit is required that will be refunded at checkout. Housing arrangements on the Stanford campus must be mase by July 26. Housing is also available at numerous hotels and motels on the peninsula in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Mountain View, and Los Altos close to Stanford University. If you would like additional housing information, please check the housing information request box on the registration form. QUESTIONS? For more information on registration and local arrangements contact Dr. Robert Stewart at (415) 941-6699 or r.stewart@compmail.com (use email after June 1). REGISTRATION FEES Postmarked by Subsequent July 26 Registration IEEE Computer Society $170 $240 or ACM Member Non-Member $240 $290 Full-Time Student $75 $100 Instead of payment by check, registration may be charged to VISA or MasterCard. Registration charged to a credit card may be FAXed to Dr. Robert Stewart at (415) 941-6699. REGISTRATION INCLUDES * Attendance * Sunday evening wine & cheese reception * One copy of the notes * Monday evening reception * Two luncheons * Coffee breaks * Parking at Florence Moore Hall On-site registration is available Sunday evening at the wine and cheese reception, and each morning at the symposium. WINE & CHEESE RECEPTION * Sunday, August 25 --- 5:00-7:00 PM * Rodin Gardens, Stanford University * A guided tour of the statuary will be provided. HOT CHIPS III REGISTRATION FORM Name________________________________________________________________________ Affiliation_________________________________________________________________ Address_____________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip______________________________________________________________ Country_____________________________________________________________________ Area Code/Phone #___________________________________________________________ Email Address_______________________________________________________________ Membership: IEEE______ ACM_______ Membership Number___________________________________________________________ Check One: ______Check drawn on a U.S. Bank ______MasterCard Make Check Payable To: Hot Chips Symposium ______VISA Name on Credit Card_________________________________________________________ Credit Card #_______________________________________________________________ Expiration Date_____________________________________________________________ Signature___________________________________________________________________ Amount Enclosed_____________________________________________________________ Mail To: Dr. Robert G. Stewart Stewart Research Enterprises 1658 Belvoir Drive Los Altos, CA 94024 ______Housing Information Requested ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1991 04:00:21 -0600 From: borys Subject: Fibre to the Home Conference TRLabs (formerly Alberta Telecommunications Research Centre) presents: FIBRE TO THE HOME Trends in Residential Fibre Access August 28 and 29, 1991 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada This is the first conference dedicated to this topic in Canada, and will be of interest to engineering, management, regulatory, and marketing staff of both cable TV companies and telcos. Sessions cover such topics as: - Fibre to the Curb systems and trials - Broadband Fibre to the Home systems and trials - Potential Services and the economics of Fibre in the Loop - Implementation Issues - Fibre in the Feeder systems for cable TV - A panel discussion featuring the CRTC (regulators), the cable industry, and the telephone industry on the topic of a shared broadband network. Registration is limited to 150 people to permit maximum interaction with the speakers and other attendees. For more information, please call: Myron Borys, FTTH Conference Director TRLabs (403) 440-7213 FAX: (403) 463-3010 atrc!borys@cs.UAlberta.CA -------------------