From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Jan 26 14:30:03 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i0QJU3m22169; Mon, 26 Jan 2004 14:30:03 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 14:30:03 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200401261930.i0QJU3m22169@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V23 #40 TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Jan 2004 14:30:00 EST Volume 23 : Issue 40 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #417, January 26, 2004 (Angus TeleManagement) Group to Battle Sprint (Monty Solomon) The Most Hated Company In Tech (Monty Solomon) Why SCO's McBride Declared War (Monty Solomon) Linus Torvalds: SCO Is "Just Too Wrong" (Monty Solomon) Re: 800-555-1140 was Re: Analog Phone Line Question (Paul Robinson) Re: Analog Phone Line Question (Paul Robinson) Spoofing a "Bounced" E-Mail Error Message? (DaveC) Re: (Christopher Wolf) Re: Overseas Toll Free Numbers (Joey Lindstrom) Re: America's Opinion of AOL (Kim Brennan) Question From PAT re: Pictures From Mars (Eric Friedebach) Virtual Meetings Get More Real (Eric Friedebach) IP400 SO8 Expansion Module (JaBrIoL) Re: NANP Numbering (Lawrence Jones) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 12:01:50 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #417, January 26, 2004 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 417: January 26, 2004 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: www.cygcom.com ** GROUP TELECOM: www.360.net ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: www.primustel.ca ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** TELUS: www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Nortel to Quit Manufacturing ** Kedar Buys Broadband Wireless Licences ** Microcell and Telus in Court Battles ** Call-Net Wants Primus VoIP Reviewed ** Rogers to Offer Five-Mbps Service ** Shaw Optimistic About VoIP ** Telcos, ISPs Form Anti-Spam Group ** AOL May Offer IP Phone Service ** AT&T Wireless for Sale ** BT Launches Canadian Unit ** Cities File Appeal Application ** SaskTel Proposes Rural Business Rate Increases ** Wireless Boom Continues ** Bell Microlink Rates Go Up ** Coalition to Oppose Foreign Ownership ** Microcell Seeks Debt Refinancing ** Lucent Revenue, Profits Rise ** AT&T Profits Drop 34% ** Read Telemanagement Online Now ============================================================ NORTEL TO QUIT MANUFACTURING: Nortel Networks says it plans to sell its remaining plants and inventory to Singapore-based Flextronics International for about US$500 million. The move will affect 1,500 employees in Calgary and Montreal. KEDAR BUYS BROADBAND WIRELESS LICENCES: Mobilexchange Spectrum, a company controlled by Mike Kedar, has acquired the assets of WNI Networks, including 400 MHz of 24 GHz broadband wireless spectrum in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, and Calgary. WNI, formerly Wispra, purchased the spectrum for $74 million in the 1999 auction, but has not deployed services. Industry Canada has approved the licence transfer. ** WNI's shareholders, TD Capital and XO International, are now minority shareholders in Kedar's company. MICROCELL AND TELUS IN COURT BATTLES: In a claim filed January 15, Microcell has asked the B.C. Supreme Court for an injunction to ensure that its roaming connection to Telus Mobility's analog network is not cut. According to the filing, Telus Mobility has accused Microcell of violating its connection agreement by promoting City Fido as a home-phone replacement service. ** Meanwhile, Microcell has asked the Quebec Superior Court to find Telus Mobility in contempt for violating injunctions, issued in November and December, that order it to stop a telemarketing campaign targeting Microcell customers. CALL-NET WANTS PRIMUS VoIP REVIEWED: Call-Net Telecommunications has asked the CRTC to investigate Primus's TalkBroadband local phone service. It says that Primus appears to be operating as a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier, but has not registered and is not providing 9-1-1 service, which CLECs must do. ROGERS TO OFFER FIVE-MBPS SERVICE: Rogers Cable will soon launch a premium Internet access service in Ontario and New Brunswick, providing speeds of up to 5 Mbps. Rogers' current 3 Mbps service will remain unchanged. ** Rogers also plans to offer Internet access bundled with an array of Yahoo products and services, including enhanced e-mail and spam control. SHAW OPTIMISTIC ABOUT VoIP: Shaw Communications says its preliminary analysis of the feasibility of IP telephony is encouraging, with capital cost estimates being lower than anticipated. The company says it expects to "be in a position to decide whether to proceed" by August 2004. ** Shaw reports revenue of $521 million for the quarter ended November 30. Net income was $20 million, compared to a net loss of $19 million a year earlier. TELCOS, ISPs FORM ANTI-SPAM GROUP: Twenty telcos and ISPs from Canada, the U.S., and Japan have formed a "Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group" to collaborate on developing carrier-class spam protection. Bell Canada and Telus are founding members of the group, which was initiated by Openwave Systems. www.openwave.com/messaging-anti-abuse-working-group AOL MAY OFFER IP PHONE SERVICE: According to the Financial Post, AOL Canada is now testing an Internet telephony service which it hopes to roll out commercially by mid-year. AT&T WIRELESS FOR SALE: AT&T Wireless, the third-largest U.S. cellular carrier, has decided "to explore the company's strategic alternatives." It has retained advisors to help it seek and evaluate takeover offers. ** The company lost $84 million in the fourth quarter, and its monthly churn level rose to 3.3%. ** Published reports speculate that AT&T Wireless may sell its 33% stake in Rogers Wireless. BT LAUNCHES CANADIAN UNIT: BT Canada, launched at a Toronto meeting for potential customers last week, says it is now actively selling international network services to multi- nationals based in Canada. www.btcanada.net CITIES FILE APPEAL APPLICATION: Last week, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and several major cities applied to the Federal Court for leave to appeal CRTC Telecom Decision 2003-82 (see Telecom Update #411). They wish to contest the CRTC's right to amend existing agreements between municipalities and carriers. SASKTEL PROPOSES RURAL BUSINESS RATE INCREASES: SaskTel wants to raise rates for business lines and Centrex II service in all but the nine largest exchanges in the province, to take effect March 1. www.crtc.gc.ca/8740/eng/2004/S22.htm#200400325 WIRELESS BOOM CONTINUES: Statistics Canada reports that wireless revenues grew 13.4% in Q3 2003, and wireless profits ($543 million) now account for a third of all telecom service profits in Canada. Wireline revenues dropped 4% in the quarter, though profits increased slightly to $1.1 Billion. www.statcan.ca/english/IPS/Data/56-002-XIE.htm BELL MICROLINK RATES GO UP: The CRTC has approved rate increases of 6%-10% for Bell Canada's Centrex Microlink access, effective March 1. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2004/o2004-28.htm COALITION TO OPPOSE FOREIGN OWNERSHIP: Trade unions and cultural groups have joined to "combat the threat of foreign ownership of our country's telephone and broadcast industries." Participants at the founding meeting included the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, the Telecommunications Workers Union, ACTRA, the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, and the Council of Canadians. ** A survey commissioned by the CEP found that 68% of those polled were opposed to increased foreign ownership of Canada's telcos. MICROCELL SEEKS DEBT REFINANCING: Microcell Telecom has begun negotiations to persuade lenders to refinance $450 million of debt on more favorable terms. LUCENT REVENUE, PROFITS RISE: Lucent Technologies had Worldwide September-December revenues of US$2.26 billion, 9% higher than a year earlier. Wireless sales rose 32%; wireline sales fell 7%. Net income: $338 million. ** Lucent foresees no significant revenue increase in 2004. AT&T PROFITS DROP 34%: AT&T Corp.'s profit fell 34% in the last three months of 2003. Total revenue for the year was US$34.5 billion, an 8.7% drop from 2002. The company is predicting a further revenue decline of 7% to 10% this year. READ TELEMANAGEMENT ONLINE NOW: The February issue of Telemanagement, now available online, includes feature reports on practical issues in deploying wireless LANs, on new IP Telephony systems for branch offices, and on Primus's new TalkBroadband local phone service. ** Telemanagement Online subscribers can access this issue, and an extensive library of past issues, columns, editorials and feature reports, at http://online.angustel.ca/ ** To subscribe, or to add online access to your existing subscription, go to www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm-sub-online.html. Charter Subscriber Discounts are available now. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com Sending e-mail to these addresses will automatically add or remove the sender's e-mail address from the list. Leave subject line and message area blank. We do not give Telecom Update subscribers' e-mail addresses to any third party. For more information, see www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2003 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ From: Monty Solomon Subject: Group to Battle Sprint Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 16:14:37 -0500 WATERTOWN Neighbors against plan for antennas By Christina Pazzanese, Globe Correspondent, 1/25/2004 Still reeling from the Town Council's decision to settle its four-year legal battle with Sprint, irate residents vow they'll now take up the fight to stop the cellular giant from installing six antennas in the middle of a densely populated neighborhood. Sprint sought a special permit from the town's zoning board in 1999 to install the cellular antennas on the roof of St. Joseph's Hall on Rosary Drive, but was rejected. The company then filed suit against the town and the board seeking a reversal in US District Court in Boston. Town Manager Michael Driscoll announced Jan. 14 that, upon advice of attorneys, the town had decided to give up the fight. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/01/25/group_to_battle_sprint/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 08:48:37 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Most Hated Company In Tech The Most Hated Company In Tech SCO's huge Linux suit against IBM is a long shot that may yield nothing but bile. He can't say he wasn't warned. In June, 2002, when Darl McBride was getting ready to take over as chief executive at struggling Caldera International Inc. in Lindon, Utah -- later renamed SCO Group Inc. -- he mused that claiming ownership of some of the underlying code in the popular Linux computer operating system could keep the company afloat. Even though Caldera's revenues were declining, it was losing $5 million per quarter, and its stock had slid below the $1 NASDAQ delisting price, the reaction of outgoing CEO Ransom Love was instantaneous. "Don't do it," Love says he told McBride. "You don't want to take on the entire Linux community." McBride did it anyway. Last March, he shook up the computer world by filing a $3 billion suit against tech giant IBM ( IBM ), claiming Big Blue had illegally inserted more than 800,000 lines of SCO-owned software code into Linux. Since then, McBride has turned up the heat. In December, SCO sent letters to more than 1,000 Linux customers accusing them of illegally using SCO's property. Now, the company warns that it will sue a Linux user within days. One potential target, SCO says, is Internet search phenom Google Inc. The company, which says it has not talked to SCO about its claims, uses Linux computers and is on the verge of its initial public offering. As a result of all this, SCO has become the most hated company in the tech world, surpassing, at least temporarily, Microsoft Corp. SCO has infuriated dozens of businesses and thousands of volunteer programmers who helped Linux become the world's second-most-popular operating system for server computers, with tens of millions of copies in use, trailing only Microsoft's ( MSFT ) Windows. Linux is open-source software: free in its most basic form and owned by no one. Many of the tech world's top companies -- including IBM, Hewlett-Packard ( HPQ ), and Dell ( DELL ) -- have hitched on to this rocket. For its most ardent fans, no words are too harsh for SCO. "They're a cornered rat, and I think they have rabies to boot," jabs the normally mild-mannered Linus Torvalds, who started Linux as a college student in 1991. The retribution against SCO has been fast and furious -- a volley of arrows from all sides. Since it sued IBM, SCO has been slapped with two countersuits, one by IBM and the other by Red Hat Inc. ( RHAT ), the largest seller of Linux software. SCO's Web site has been shut down three times by hackers. And McBride has even received death threats. One was so unnerving that SCO's security had a sharpshooter in the room when McBride spoke at a tech conference in Las Vegas in December. "The theater of this -- it's sort of beyond belief for all of us," he says. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_05/b3868104_mz063.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 08:50:02 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Why SCO's McBride Declared War Online Extra: Why SCO's McBride Declared War Says the CEO about Linux: "It wasn't like we said, 'Oh, let's go find people and sue them.' It was a gradual enforcement of our rights" You have to give SCO Group ( SCOX ) CEO Darl McBride credit for one thing: He's got moxie. Since moving into the corner office at the tiny Utah software company in June, 2002, McBride has taken on the software world. In March, 2003, he sued IBM ( IBM ) for $3 billion, claiming Big Blue handed over SCO-owned intellectual property to software programmers who developed the increasingly popular Linux software. Now he's threatening to sue a major company that uses Linux to run its computers, and may be just days away from doing so. BusinessWeek Correspondent Jim Kerstetter recently spoke with McBride in SCO's offices beneath the snow-capped Wasatch Mountains. Here are edited excerpts of that interview: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_05/b3868109_mz063.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 08:54:21 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Linus Torvalds: SCO Is "Just Too Wrong" The originator of the Linux OS has sharp words for SCO's "cornered rat" claims of intellectual-property infringement. If anyone knows what's in Linux, it's Linus Torvalds. He did the first work on the open-source operating system while a student at the University of Helsinki, and he managed the often chaotic process of building it with other programmers. Now, SCO Group ( SCOX ), a small Utah software company, claims Linux is trampling on intellectual property rights it inherited from Novell ( NOVL ), which got them from AT&T ( T). In an e-mail interview with BusinessWeek Correspondent Jim Kerstetter , Torvalds explains why he thinks SCO is wrong. The following are edited excerpts from that interview: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_05/b3868110_mz063.htm ------------------------------ From: Paul Robinson Organization: elusive-butterfly.net Subject: Re: 800-555-1140 was Re: Analog Phone Line Question Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 21:46:51 GMT Dr. Joel M. Hoffman wrote: > > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That toll free number, 800-555-1140 > > also works fine here in my town. I bet it will for everyone. PAT] > Hmm. Just tried it from a cell phone, and the ANI was *not* my cell > number. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I tried *my* cellular phone also from > here, and it did not return correct results either. However my > Vonage phone did have the correct results, and my wireline phone as > well. > From my home phone, the ANI was 00 plus the correct number. > From my Sprint PCS cell phone, the ANI was 61 plus the correct number. I think Sprint has fixed something, because a few months ago, calling MCI's customer service at 800-444-4444 from my cell phone, which has a Falls Church, Virginia 703 area code exchange, was being read back as a Maryland 301 area code number. MCI's 444 number now correctly reports back my true area code 703 Sprint PCS number. Paul Robinson "Above all else... We shall go on..." "...And continue!" "If the lessons of history teach us anything it is that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us." ------------------------------ From: Paul Robinson Organization: elusive-butterfly.net Subject: Re: Analog Phone Line Question Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 21:58:19 GMT Dmitry wrote: > I have a live analog telephone line and can dial out just fine, but I > don't know what the phone number is to dial in. Is there a number I > can dial in Washington D.C area that would tell me the number I am > calling from? Verizon uses 811 in Virginia and I believe it was using it in Maryland and it might work in DC. When they bought up GTE of Virginia (formerly Contel) a few years ago, which used 211, for a time they had both numbers work on the Verizon network, now only 811 works. It reads back only the last 7 digits. Of course, there is still the old standbys of 1010732-1-770-988-9664 and 1-800-555-1140, and MCI Customer Service at 1-800-444-4444. Paul Robinson "Above all else... We shall go on..." "...And continue!" "If the lessons of history teach us anything it is that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us." ------------------------------ From: DaveC Subject: Spoofing a "Bounced" E-Mail Error Message? Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 14:07:46 -0800 Reply-To: me@privacy.net How difficult would it be to spoof a message that seemed like it came from an ISP's mail server? I'd like this technique to discourage some people from sending mail to me. The message doesn't have to be perfect, just such that to the untrained eye it looks like the recipient's address (mine) doesn't exist and the host mail server is informing the sender of such. Suggestions? Thanks, DaveC me@privacy.net This is an invalid return address Please reply in the news group [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Really not a problem at all. I use a software package called 'Mail Washer' which does that. When you want to receive your email, instead of using your email client, you use Mail Washer. It POPS into your various accounts, grabs all the mail and displays only a line of each item; who from, date and subject. Then you train it what you consider spam and what is legitmate, and you click little boxes next to each piece of mail for accept, spam, blacklist, and bounce. Then you click 'process mail'. The mail accepted is brought to your mail client and displayed in the usual way. Mail which is considered spam just disappears from the servers when you confirm your click by processing mail. Anything you tell Mail Washer to bounce and blacklist gets returned to the sender with a very realistic looking notice from postmaster@your.site saying no such user. You do have to work to set it up properly at first, since sometimes on outgoing mail you need to 'authenticate user' with a password, etc to be able to send mail through a particular server. And of course some email arrives with a bogus return address to start with, so you have to take care on mail you simply want to destroy undread versus that you want to blacklist and bounce. Not a bad program however; its easier to get rid of several dozen pieces of junk with a check mark on a single line instead of having to accept all the mail, scan through it and zap what is junk. And it saves your own wastebasket file from having to fill up and then get emptied out. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 17:12:38 -0600 From: Christopher Wolf Subject: Telecom News in TELECOM Digest No offense, but I read other sources of news, and I see the stuff below in several places where it's accurately sorted by topic. I read Telecom Digest to get *telecom* related information, not the latest Dish TV "special" or what Amazon is doing this week. Just a simple comment. -W > Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 12:10:52 -0500 > From: Monty Solomon > Subject: DISH Network $999 HDTV Promo > http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/products/system/ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And no offense taken. Monty Solomon is a sort of exceptional case among my various correspondents. He works for free, mind you, with his e-press clipping service, sending me just tons of good items for the Digest, stuff I would never be able to sit around investigating and looking at own my own given my own limited resources. Not all strictly, absolutely telecom related, except often times in a very peripheral way. At one point in time -- maybe until a year ago more or less -- I was simply taking all his material and running it as one large 'column' of news in each issue. But then several readers suggested breaking his stuff into individusl items, as he sent it, and run each piece separately, so that people could quickly sort through it and take only want they wanted to read, and after some discussion here in the Digest, that is how it wound up coming down. Use your key to move forward and skip what of his was not wanted. To improve on this plan slightly, last week with the help of our reader xxxx@xxxx.com (a guy named Mattox out of Madison, WI I think) we 'colorized' the web-based newsletter published here in the http://telecom-digest.org 'latest issue' file, making the subject lines come out in red and emphasized slightly, so that people who choose to read that version and can slide their mouse rapidly down the screen picking through things to read (a lot like when you can through a printed newspaper and scan for headlines of interest), they can speed right along looking for the occassional red emphasized line of print. Likewise, the notes I insert from time to time (too often and too long in the opinion of some readers) are also offset with a different color for the few of you who like to read my words of wisdom (or tons of balogna if you prefer, so you can skip over those as well.) The coloring is only for that file, which is usually set in place with a 'pre' command and dismissed with a '/pre' command at the end of each issue. The coloring is not in the archives, and not on this ascii-text based edition many of you are reading now. I hope that helps many of you sort through what you want and don't want to see in the Digest each issue. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 18:52:45 -0700 From: Joey Lindstrom Reply-To: Joey Lindstrom Organization: Telus Sucks! Subject: Re: Overseas Toll Free Numbers Sunday, January 25, 2004, 4:45:03 PM, Paul Robinson wrote: > The number 011-800-4445-8667# when dialed from an Arlington, > Virginia home telephone produced a US style ring, and after about 10 > or 12 rings went to a recording identifying itself as Hilton Honors, > in essence I was being put into a queue. I hung up, having > confirmed that the numbers do work here. > When I tried dialing it from my Sprint PCS phone (without the # > since you send all the digits before you push 'send'), I got the > recording "Your account is not authorized to make calls to this > number" so it implies that Sprint isn't aware of it yet or doesn't > know how to authorize that 'country code' to be considered a local > call. > This at least confirms that international 800 numbers can be dialed > from U.S. wireline locations (presuming they include US access for > the particular number.) I just made some attempts to dial that number from Calgary, Alberta, Canada and got sorta the opposite results. First, tried it from my Telus Mobility PCS phone. I have *NOT* activated international calling. If I tried dialing somebody in the UK at 011-44-number, I'd get that same "not authorized" recording you got. But dialing the 011-800 number quoted above goes through without any problems. So I tried it from my home phone, which is Telus dialtone and Primus Canada selected as my default long distance carrier. Dialing this number results in about a 5 second delay, then a fast-busy signal. However, if I precede this call with "1010323" (which is Telus Long Distance's dial-around code), the call goes through. I also have an account with Wintel. This is a low-tech long-distance service: you dial a local 7-digit number, you get a second dialtone, and you dial your long distance number from there. If the number is overseas, you precede the call with "999" - so in this case it would be 999-800-4445-8667. I get as far as the "5" before the Wintel platform starts beeping its call rejection tone at me. Joey Lindstrom see TD-EXTRA at http://td-extra.interocitor.net ------------------------------ From: kimbrennan@aol.comfrtz.com (KimBrennan) Date: 26 Jan 2004 03:44:30 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Subject: Re: America's Opinion of AOL > BTW, how much would you pay for AOL ADSL in the US? Or any other > ISP on ADSL for that matter. I'd pay $60 a month. If I could get DSL (any flavor). But in WV, the poorest in the nation, forget about high speed internet in most of the state. "I'm sorry, all my money is tied up in currency." W.C.Fields ------------------------------ From: friedebach@yahoo.com (Eric Friedebach) Subject: Question From PAT Re: Pictures From Mars Date: 26 Jan 2004 08:32:21 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com In V23 #32 our Moderator wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Question for Eric: Lately you have > been using as your .sig file the commentary about Mars and northern > Nevada. I was wondering if you (or anyone else reading this) have > been looking at the visuals of Mars from the NASA web site? They > might make for an interesting discussion here in the Digest. PAT] PAT, please excuse my delay in responding! Somehow this issue of the Digest ended up in the wrong folder here. I've seen a few pictures, but to be honest, I've not really followed the probe story. Sending *people* would be much more interesting to me. And it looks like that's just what we're going to do, starting with the moon. Eric Friedebach The ol ringy dinghy [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It would certainly appear those are Mr. Bush's plans, assuming Mars and the moon can in real practice support human life. It appears *maybe* they can (in real practice and not just a theoretical exercise) but I am talking now about *quality of life* -- not just 'living'. Maybe Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) had a future glimpse of things when he would poinnt skyward and threaten his wife Alice 'the Moon, Alice!' It would be *so wild* if it happened in my lifetime. PAT] ------------------------------ From: friedebach@yahoo.com (Eric Friedebach) Subject: Virtual Meetings Get More Real Date: 26 Jan 2004 08:45:18 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Aude Lagorce, 01.26.04, Forbes.com NEW YORK - If you've ever sat through a video conference, hopelessly scanning your interlocutors' tiny faces on a TV screen for a clue about who is uttering the disembodied words reaching you with a one-second delay, you're likely to hope that the corporate travel budget will soon be reinstated. As funds for business travel have been slashed over the last few years, the video conferencing business has been widely seen as an alternative to in-person meetings. But video meetings can be a frustrating and awkward affair. Speech can get out of sync, and words can be dropped. The video screen can act like more of a communications barrier than an aid. An Ohio-based startup called Telesuite aims to change that. Forget everything you thought you knew about trying to talk to a TV. The barely recognizable faces? Gone. The poor lighting? Departed. The nerve-jarring sound delays? Distant memories. http://www.forbes.com/2004/01/26/cx_al_0126tentech.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ From: Jabriol@excite.com (JaBrIoL) Subject: IP400 SO8 Expansion Module Date: 26 Jan 2004 08:59:11 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello, I have an Avaya IP Office IP400 SO8 expansion module and I'm trying to configure it in my IP400 Office system. Using the Installation manual as a reference, I tried to configure the system in the Manager with no results. I do get the 8 SO lines showing, but cannot make call throughs to verify operation. Does anyone have an idea on the proper configuration. Thanks! ------------------------------ From: lawrence.jones@ugsplm.com Subject: Re: NANP Numbering Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 17:13:01 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com Paul Robinson wrote: > look at your keyboard and realize the QWERTY pattern was developed > back in the 1880s to *slow people down* on manual typewriters that > would jam. A common misconception, or at least a gross mischaracterization of Mr. Sholes' intent. If common letter pairs were near each other in the mechanism, it would jam when they were typed quickly. By separating the common letter pairs, the QWERTY arrangement prevented the jamming and thus allowed the typist to go *faster* than the original (alphabetical) arrangement. It was actually developed a bit earlier than the 1880s, the patent was granted in 1878. -Larry Jones I stand FIRM in my belief of what's right! I REFUSE to compromise my principles! -- Calvin ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. 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