From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Apr 22 17:07:09 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3ML79p23575; Thu, 22 Apr 2004 17:07:09 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 17:07:09 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404222107.i3ML79p23575@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 #201 TELECOM Digest Thu, 22 Apr 2004 17:06:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 201 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Net2Phone Unveils Wi-Fi VoIP Strategy; Net2 Phone To Enable (VOIP News) Dean Anderson of AV8 Comments on Privacy Issues and VoIP Tap (VOIP News) Making the Call on VoIP - Internet Phone Services Vary (VOIP News) New VoIP Provider Has Largest Residential "Unlimited" Local (VOIP News) FCCs Decision Against AT&Ts VoIP Garners 5-0 Vote, Raises (VOIP News) Feds Ding AT&T Over Internet Calls (VOIP News) Re: Phone Line Connected to Satellite System Problems (Gary Breuckman) Re: Phone Line Connected to Satellite System Problems (Paul A Lee) Can't Ping IP Printer? (DaveC) Norvergence (Tim Trump) Honesty From Earthlink (Edson C. Hendricks) Factory Flaws Yield Headaches For Chip Makers (Monty Solomon) SBC Communications' Profit Drops 61 Percent (Monty Solomon) "Jew Watch", Google, and Search Engine Optimization (Monty Solomon) 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 are 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 11:21:34 -0400 Subject: Net2Phone Unveils Wi-Fi VoIP Strategy; Net2Phone To Enable Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040422005369&newsLang=en Net2Phone Unveils Wi-Fi VoIP Strategy; Net2Phone To Enable Service Providers With Wi-Fi Telephony, Extending Mobility And Flexibility of VoIP A related IDT Corporation press release is available, please refer to Business Wire story #5255, April 22, 2004. NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 22, 2004-- IDT to deploy Wi-Fi phone service utilizing Net2Phone's platform Net2Phone (NASDAQ: NTOP) today announced plans to deliver a suite of wireless VoIP solutions to service providers globally, enabling them to empower residential and corporate users worldwide with mobile VoIP applications. Building on its recently announced VoiceLine broadband telephony offering, Net2Phone's wireless VoIP solutions will offer service providers SIP-based hosted wireless telephony services that can be sold to their customers as an enhancement to their existing product set. Wireless VoIP extends the existing reach of voice and data services by removing the necessity for copper or fiber last-mile access to the Internet. Net2Phone routes all calls over wireless IP networks to its SIP-based platform, which performs call management, provides Class 5 features, billing, provisioning and enhanced services and distributes the infrastructure required for interconnecting onto and off of the PSTN network. Net2Phone offers service providers an affordable mobile telephony solution together with a complete set of features and functionality, including inbound and outbound calling with phone number selection, call waiting, caller ID and voicemail. The company also announced that its first customer, IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT), a leading multinational carrier and technology company, plans to deploy commercial Wi-Fi phone service in a series of locations throughout the United States. The Ironbound area of Newark, New Jersey will be the first area covered and will enable users in residential and affordable housing to bypass local phone companies and make domestic and international phone calls via a wireless connection to the Internet. Demand for wireless IP local area networks or Wi-Fi (802.11) continues to grow, with Pyramid Research projecting 700 million Wi-Fi users globally by 2008. Wi-Max, an extended wireless broadband network reaching as far as 25 miles, is becoming a viable alternative for customers to receive high-speed Internet access in rural areas and in areas where wired broadband is not an option because of low high-speed data availability. By extending its retail VoIP offerings to the wireless environment, Net2Phone can ride the wave of wireless broadband deployments by offering a bundle of telephony in conjunction with a high-speed wireless data offer. "Net2Phone's wireless solutions remove the tether associated with VoIP, delivering the flexibility of a cellular phone anywhere in the world there is a Wi-Fi hotspot, without the need to be tied to a cell phone carrier, " said Stephen Greenberg, CEO of Net2Phone. "Net2Phone is well positioned to ride the burgeoning Wi-Fi network explosion to offer consumers and businesses affordable mobile telephony solutions." Wireless VoIP Partnership Opportunities As Net2Phone is an enabler for service providers, globally, Net2Phone can also seamlessly integrate its front and back office systems, including its billing platform, into its partners' infrastructures, thereby facilitating a unified bill for high-speed data, telecommunications and other services. Target partners include: -- Wireless ISPs (WISPs): With more than 30 million US homes that cannot access cable or DSL service, Net2Phone can offer WISPs telephony services as a bundle to their high-speed wireless product, both within local wireless environments, such as cafes and airports, as well as Wi-Max deployments throughout entire cities. -- Rural Opportunities: Residents in rural areas may benefit from broadband Internet access as well as competitive telephony service. With more cities and municipalities offering their populace extensive long-range wireless networks in their locales, Net2Phone can offer full featured inbound and outbound calling capabilities within those networks. -- Wireline High-Speed Data Providers: Net2Phone can empower high-speed data providers, such as cable and DSL operators, with mobile telephony solutions, thereby extending the reach and flexibility of their broadband telephony service. -- Wireless Home Networks: Within a home networking environment, users can roam throughout the house with a Wi-Fi phone. End users can then use the Net2Phone service anytime they are within a hotspot, either at home or on the road. -- Public Hotspots: Customers can take their Wireless VoiceLine account and phone number and roam onto any open hotspot to place and receive calls. This strategy is very similar to the RBOC's strategy of offering their DSL customers free data roaming on their hotspots to further extend their value proposition to their customers. -- OEMs -- Cell Phone Manufacturers: Net2Phone is also in discussions with cell phone manufacturers that are creating dual mode cell phones for both cell phone and VoIP usages. -- PDA Manufacturers: PDA manufacturers can also add software to their devices that can enable a wireless PDA with phone functionality using Net2Phone. Layer incremental SIP telephony services Net2Phone can also enable its partners to offer to their subscribers, residential telephony services, prefix dialing services and calling cards. By marketing multiple telephony services to their subscribers using one unified account and platform, partners can maximize their telephony revenue per subscriber. About Net2Phone Net2Phone provides PacketCable, SIP and wireless VoIP solutions around in the world. As leaders in enabling telecom service providers and cable operators with turn-key hosted VoIP telephony services, Net2Phone has routed billions of retail VoIP minutes globally, servicing more than 100,000 users in the US as well as hundreds of thousands of more overseas. Net2Phone's hosted SIP platform provides partners with residential broadband telephony, calling cards, prefix dialing and enterprise services in over 100 countries. Net2Phone's PacketCable platform provides cable operators with the ability to deliver a primary line replacement service with guaranteed QoS and features such as E911. Traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol NTOP, Net2Phone's strategic partners and investors include Liberty Media Corporation (NYSE: L; LMC.B) and IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT; IDT.C). For more information about Net2Phone's products and services, please visit www.net2phone.com. Net2Phone Corporate Communications Dawn Orlinsky, 973-438-3508 dorlinsky@net2phone.com How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 11:27:57 -0400 Subject: Dean Anderson of AV8 Comments on Privacy Issues and VoIP taps Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.cryptonomicon.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=749 Dean Anderson of AV8 Comments on Privacy Issues and VoIP taps Posted on Thursday, April 22 @ 08:00:00 EDT by mhamrick In a recent story we reported on comments by Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General of the State of New York. In a statement released by his office, Mr. Spitzer criticizes telcos for being slow to respond to law enforcement requests to upgrade VoIP technology to give law enforcement the ability to tap "internet phone calls." (See Eliot Spitzer Calls for VoIP Taps .) Now Dean Anderson has chimed into Declan McCullagh's PolitechBot mailing list and has said ... [Begin quote] Further, the concept of an _FBI_controlled_ backdoor is completely novel in the telecom industry. With telephone tapping, the FBI is supposed to have paperwork. Then the telephone company will route the audio of that phone to a "wiretap port", a line to the FBI office in response to an FBI request, for which records are kept. The FBI is never, ever given access to the CO cableplant, or the CO facilities. FBI tapping equipment is not allowed in a Telephone Office. There is someone in the Telephone company that _can_ blow the whistle either publicly or to the FBI itself in the event of abuse. (eg, Agent soandso asked for a Tap on his ex-wife) [End quote] The complete quote is available at the PolitechBot archive and is worth a click over. (see [Politech] One Internet provider's view of FBI's CALEA wiretap push [priv] .) ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 13:14:29 -0400 Subject: Making the Call on VoIP - Internet Phone Services Vary Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/ptech/generalstories2/042204ccdrptechgeeklife.98a4e.html By VIKAS BAJAJ / The Dallas Morning News To certified geeks like me, Voice over Internet Protocol phone calls have immediate resonance. If set up properly, the technology can be extremely powerful. It lets you manage calls to you by ringing them to several phone numbers at once or in a daisy chain until you answer. You can send calls directly to voice-mail, which can then be e-mailed to you. VoIP also lets you take your home phone number and features with you on the road. And best of all, long-distance calls within the nation are toll-free. The technology, which uses broadband Internet connections to transmit calls, can also dramatically reduce costs by eliminating many surcharges and providing lower international rates. Last year, I tested and reported on one of the first mass-market VoIP services by Vonage Holding Corp. I gave it good marks, although I was annoyed by the quality of some international calls. For the last few weeks, I have tested AT&T Corp.'s CallVantage service. I also started using 8x8 Inc.'s Packet8 service this week. Full story at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/ptech/generalstories2/042204ccdrptechgeeklife.98a4e.html ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 04:37:59 -0400 Subject: New VoIP Provider Has Largest Residential "Unlimited" Local Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com A thread on BroadbandReports.com led to information on a new VoIP service that, for $24.95 per line per month, offers (to residential customers) unlimited local and toll calls in the USA (All 50 states), Canada and featured international destinations. Featured International Destinations* Argentina - Buenos Aires Australia Canada Chile Denmark France Germany Hong Kong Ireland Israel Italy Korea South Mexico - Mexico City Mexico - Monterey Netherlands Norway Russia - Moscow Russia - St. Petersburg Singapore Spain Sweden Taiwan United Kingdom Vatican City State * Rates to certain cellular destinations may carry additional costs The company's web site is at: http://rnkvoipservice.com/ The discussion thread on BroadbandReports.com may be found here: http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,9993971~mode=flat (Note that in this thread, user dan33ljb seems to be the representative for the company in question). Also, note that the company's web site apparently just went live a few hours ago and several people are commenting that it is difficult to use. And, because the company is so new, there have been no actual reviews by users of the service posted yet. If this turns out to be na legitimate offer (and so far I have no reason to think it isn't), it raises the bar for the size of the "unlimited" calling area. However, there are a few drawbacks to this service at present. For one thing they only offer numbers for incoming calls in a handful of states in the northeast, and for another, if you want the "enhanced feature package" (which includes several features that are usually offered at no additional charge by other VoIP providers), there is a $4.95 additional monthly charge. Those who rarely or never make calls outside the U.S.A. might be better off with a company that offers a smaller calling area, but more features at no additional charge. ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 22:17:03 -0400 Subject: FCCs Decision Against AT&Ts VoIP Garners 5-0 Vote, Raise Question Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.telecomweb.com/news/1082572258.htm The FCC on Wednesday (April 21) was preparing to release its long-awaited decision on AT&T's petition seeking a declaratory ruling on its phone-to-phone Voice over Inter Protocol (VoIP) service, sources tell TelecomWeb's sister publication, Telecom Policy Report. As predicted by TPR, the Commission has denied AT&T's request, ruling that the carrier's VoIP offering is, in fact, subject to interstate access charges. And although the five commissioners voted to deny AT&T's petition, at least two of them -- Michael Copps and Kevin Martin -- are said to have serious reservations about the denial. Sources tell TPR that Copps and Martin were under tremendous pressure to vote with the majority, and that the order denying AT&T's petition was crafted in such a way as to make opposition to it appear contrary to the principles of universal service. Full story at: http://www.telecomweb.com/news/1082572258.htm ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 22:10:36 -0400 Subject: Feds Ding AT&T Over Internet Calls Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5197204.html By Ben Charny CNET News.com Federal regulators ruled on Wednesday that AT&T must pay traditional local access charges to complete Internet phone calls, putting the long-distance carrier on the hook for billions of dollars in deferred fees. Telecommunications companies closely watched the Federal Communications Commission decision for its potential impact on voice over Internet Protocol services. VoIP technology uses high-speed Web connections to carry phone calls, so it promises to bypass the traditional phone system, thus saving carriers and customers substantial fees. AT&T had argued that it was not required to pay the access fees to local landline companies for completing long-distance calls, when those calls travel partly over the Internet. But the FCC disagreed. In a limited decision anticipated months ago, it chose to maintain much of the status quo between long-distance and local carriers for now. The FCC said its ruling affects only calls that begin and end on the public switched telephone network and use Internet Protocol networks in between. The ruling is not expected to impact commercial VoIP providers. Full story at: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5197204.html ------------------------------ From: Gary Breuckman Subject: Re: Phone Line Connected to Satellite System Problems Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 21:57:58 -0500 Organization: Puma's Lair - catbox.com In article , J Kelly wrote: > On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 20:43:03 -0400, Keith Knipschild > wrote: >> I recently got a Satellite System installed from DISH Network, The >> receiver needs to be connected to a phone line otherwise Dish charges >> $5 a month. >> But I seem to be having a problem, The DISH receiver does not recognize >> my phone line, (Which is POTS) it fails on a phone line test. >> I then remembered that since I have VOICE DIALING, the dial tone is >> very brief ... Maybe that is causing the failure. >> So I did a test, from my phone I dialed *98 (This extends the Dial >> Tone) and did a phone line test on my DISH receiver and it Worked just >> fine. (I think the Extended Dial Tone only lasts for 1 call). >> Does anyone know how to cure this problem? Is it DISH's receiver or >> VERIZON'S problem with Voice Dialing ? >> BTW: Verizon does not Support Voice Dialing anymore, they don't offer >> it anymore, but existing customers can continue to use it. >> Keith > Does the Dish have a place to tell it to dial *98 to access the line, > therefore extending the dialtone? I recall seeing a place to set a code > to dial to access an outside line, but maybe it was only the option to > dial 9. I'm not near one of my Dish boxes at the moment to check. Let's see -- IF I dial *98, a side effect is I get a longer dialtone, so I can dial. If I don't have a longer dialtone in the first place, I can't dial *98. How does this work again? -- Gary Breuckman ------------------------------ From: Paul A Lee Subject: Re: Phone Line Connected to Satellite System Problems Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 00:00:43 -0400 Organization: Rite Aid Corporation In TELECOM Digest V23 #191, Keith Knipschild wrote (in part): > I recently got a Satellite System installed from DISH Network > ... But I seem to be having a problem The DISH receiver does not > recognize my phone line it fails on a phone line test. > I then remembered that since I have VOICE DIALING, the dial tone is > very brief ... Maybe that is causing the failure. So I did a test, > from my phone I dialed *98 (This extends the Dial Tone) and did a > phone line test on my DISH receiver and it Worked just fine. (I > think the Extended Dial Tone only lasts for 1 call). > Does anyone know how to cure this problem? Have you tried programming your DISH receiver with a three-digit dial prefix of '*98'? This is done in the System Setup | Installation | Phone System menu on my 4900. It might still flunk the diagnostic, but could work correctly when it actually has to dial out to report PPV purchases. It depends on whether the receiver listens for dial tone before dialing, or blind dials the prefix. I don't know which it does, but it's worth a try. Paul A Lee Voice: +1 717 730-8355 Sr Telecom Engineer [Voice & Transmission] Fax: +1 717 975-3789 Rite Aid Corporation, Telecomm, 30 Hunter Lane, Camp Hill, PA 17011-2410 ------------------------------ From: DaveC Subject: Can't Ping IP Printer? Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 20:59:58 -0700 Reply-To: me@privacy.net I've set up three routers to provide security between two small networks, yet be able to share resources. The setup consists of a Speedstream DSL modem, a Netgear FVS318 immediately downstream; and two RP614v2 routers plugged into the '318. All computers (6 total) are plugged into the 614's. I configured the routers so that they each have unique IP addresses, and serve (DHCP) unique ranges of IP addresses. All computers can share the DSL service without problems. Everything seemed fine. I then added an HP LaserJet 2300 printer with built-in Ethernet card (HP option). I plugged the printer into the '318. I then set up a (memory is a bit fuzzy, here) port for access to the printer's IP address (I think). When the printer is plugged into either of the 614's, the computers on that network can print to the printer. When it is plugged into the 318, no one can see it or print to it. Pinging doesn't work either (no packets returned; times out) when the printer is on the "other side" of the 614. I presume it is possible to access the printer across the router; what am I overlooking? Thanks, DaveC me@privacy.net This is an invalid return address Please reply in the news group ------------------------------ From: Tim Trump Subject: Norvergence Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 12:04:14 -0400 Our company is also evaluating this company as a telecom provider which I now understand is a reseller? Somewhat disturbing but would like additional info if anyone has it. Best regards, Tim Trump Project Manager Dominion Metallurgical, Inc. 5304 Valleypark Drive Roanoke, VA 24019 Ph: 540/362-8500 Fx: 540/362-8362 email: ttrump@dom-met.com MSN messenger: domettimt@hotmail.com web site: www.dom-met.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 19:21:44 -0700 From: Edson C. Hendricks Subject: Honesty from Earthlink This is 4/21/04, here's my transcript of almost the very same exchange from Earthlink posted here from two months ago: ++++++++++ Welcome to Earthlink LiveChat. Your chat session will begin shortly. Not at home and you want to read your email? With Earthlink Web Mail you can check your email from any computer with an Internet connection! Please wait for a site operator to respond. While you are waiting, please feel free to begin typing your issue in the box below. Try to be as descriptive as possible. Once an operator responds, click SEND to transmit what you have typed. Not at home and you want to read your email? With Earthlink Web Mail you can check your email from any computer with an Internet connection! Please wait for a site operator to respond. While you are waiting, please feel free to begin typing your issue in the box below. Try to be as descriptive as possible. Once an operator responds, click SEND to transmit what you have typed. Not at home and you want to read your email? With Earthlink Web Mail you can check your email from any computer with an Internet connection! Angela K says: Thank you for contacting EarthLink LiveChat, how may I help you today? Ed.H: Hello Angela K. Can you explain why Earthlink is sending me spam, even though I've "opted out" from receiving such unwanted junk? Angela K: Please let me know whether you are receiving non-administrative email messages from EarthLink. Ed.H: No, these are not administrative messages, they are advertising. The one is for some stupid photo processing service, the other is even identified in the subject line as "ADV", which has to do with DSL or some similar thing I don't care to be receiving email about. Angela K: Could I have your secret word/PIN, for verification purpose? Ed.H: My browser tells me that this is not a secure link, so I don't believe it would be appropriate to send such information. Am I wrong about that somehow? Angela K: This is a secured chat and I am an Authorized employee of EarthLink, so you can provide the information for verification with out any hesitation. Ed.H: OK, fine. My Earthink email address is ********@earthlink.net, and my password is ********. My domain name is edh.net, which is the only email address I let anyone know about. Angela K: Thank you for the verification. Ed.H: yw Angela K: Okay, now I will Opt Out your email address from receiving these emails. Ed.H: So, didn't I already opt it out? Several of Earthlink's telephone support people have assured me that I had done that correctly? Angela K: Now, I will do it from our servers. Angela K: I can assure you that you will no longer receive these kind of emails. Ed.H: Is there any way I could do that "from your servers" without having to get you to do it for me? Angela K: You can do it form My Account. Angela K: Sorry, You can do it from My Account. Ed.H: But, I *already did that!* Months ago. At least three Earthlink support representatives on the telephone have confirmed that. They told me these spam email messages were not coming from Earthlink. The stories don't match. What is going on here? Angela K: To best assist you, you need to speak with a Customer Service Representative. Please standby while I transfer you. Ed.H: OK Please wait while I transfer the chat to the best suited site operator. Nelson D says: Thank you for contacting EarthLink LiveChat, how may I help you today? Nelson D: Hello, I see you've already been chatting. Please give me a moment so I can read the previous chat and pick up where you left off. Ed.H: Sure Nelson D: Can I have the secret pin on the account which appears to be the last four digits of your Social Security Number, for verification? Ed.H: That's **** Nelson D: Thank you for providing the verification information. Nelson D: I see that you have already opted out of all promotional communications. Nelson D: I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to you in this regard. I see that you have already opted out of all promotional communications from EarthLink. However, we have noted that some of the customer are still receiving them. Our engineers are currently working on this issue. Once resolved, you will not receive any promotional communications from us. Ed.H: Could you please explain why my opting out originally did not work, and assuming that your promise is correct, that it will *this time*, why I should think it will work now? Nelson D: I apologize for the inconvenience. Our engineers are working on this issue. Nelson D: Once the issue is resolved, you will not be receiving them. Ed.H: Do you realize that this, as you say, "issue," has been going for more than two months now? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nelson D: I am sorry for the inconvenience. I assure you that it will be resolved very soon and you will not be receiving any promotional emails. Ed.H: Can you explain why some sensible, rational person, would not deduce that Earthlink is trying this way to spam its subscribers, even when they "opt out"? Nelson D: I sincerely apologize. But due to some error, our server is sending these emails to those customers also who have opted out of it. Our engineers are working to correct this issue. Ed.H: And, I deduce, that Earthlink is somehow incapable of figuring out how to stop spamming its subscribers within a period of a couple months, while it seems to be able to do pretty much everything else reasonably promptly? Nelson D: I am sorry for the confusion. These are not spam emails. This issue has been reported and will be taken care of. Nelson D: Are you with me? Ed.H: OK, fine. Whether or not Earthlink would admit it, these actually *are* spam email messages, because they are being sent by Earthlink to individuals who have clearly communicated to Earthlink that they do not want to see them. I've been trying for weeks to get this fixed. I'm sorry, if Earthlink is genuinely unable to get these "problems" fixed as promptly as it fixes every other problem, then any normal person would deduce that they're trying *not* to "solve" them, to keep the advertising running. Why is it taking Earthlink so long to fix it? Nelson D: I apologize for the inconvenience. I will forward this issue once again to concerned department and assure you that this will be fixed. Ed.H: All right, I can see you have no more answers. Thank you very much for your attention, although I must tell in closing that your explanation doesn't satisfy me, and I doubt it would satisfy practically any objective reader. Nelson D: I once again apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience in this regard. I assure you that this will not take long. Nelson D: Okay. Thank you for using EarthLink LiveChat. Should you need further assistance, please feel free to contact us again. Nelson D: Bye. Chat session has been terminated by the site operator. When you close the chat window a survey window will open. Please take a minute to fill in the survey and let us know how your chat session was. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 00:08:13 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Factory Flaws Yield Headaches For Chip Makers By Daniel Sorid SAN FRANCISCO, April 21 (Reuters) - For chip makers, problems on the factory floor are increasingly turning into big headaches in the executive suite. Some of the world's biggest chip makers have lost both money and time straightening out the extraordinarily complex process of turning microchip designs and discs of silicon into working electronics. The difficulties have only worsened as the industry adopts new design features smaller than the wavelength of light, while moving to larger silicon wafers that can produce more than twice as many chips as previous wafers. While those new technologies greatly increase the potential for churning out stacks of more powerful chips at lower costs, they have also thrown up hurdles that even the largest chip makers have occasionally stumbled over. The most recent slip-up comes from IBM's $3 billion fabrication plant, or fab, in East Fishkill, New York. International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) executives have acknowledged that manufacturing problems at the plant contributed to a $150 million loss that the company's chip business had last quarter. http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=41126745 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 00:10:53 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: SBC Communications' Profit Drops 61 Percent SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- SBC Communications Inc.'s profit dropped 61 percent in the first quarter from results swelled by the effects of an accounting change a year ago, but the telecommunications concern's results still easily surpassed expectations. SBC, the nation's No. 2 local-phone provider, posted profits totaling $1.9 billion, or 59 cents per share, in the three months ended March 30. That compares to $5.0 billion, or $1.50 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2003 which included a benefit of more than $2.5 billion due to accounting changes. Both quarters also included significant gains from selling holdings in overseas telecom ventures. In the most recent quarter, SBC picked up 22 cents per share from its sale of its stake in Belgacom SA. Not counting the one-time gains, SBC's earnings of 37 cents a share in the latest quarter was five cents lower than the same period a year ago, but exceeded the analyst consensus of 32 cents, according to Thomson First Call. San Antonio-based SBC posted revenue of $10.1 billion in the quarter, down from about $10.4 billion in the first quarter of 2003. Local-phone service provided more than half of SBC's revenue, but sales dropped 9 percent to $5.23 billion. SBC said its loss of local-phone customers have slowed in recent quarters. The company reported 305,000 access-line disconnects in the first quarter, down from 424,000 in the preceding quarter and 748,000 in the first quarter of 2003. Much of that local phone service revenue loss was offset by growth in broadband and data services, up 6.8 percent to $2.6 billion, and long-distance phone service, up 29.6 percent to $749 million. http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=41123945 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 09:30:33 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: "Jew Watch", Google, and Search Engine Optimization An anticensorware investigation by Seth Finkelstein Abstract: This report examines issues surrounding the high ranking of an anti-semitic website, "JewWatch.com" for searches on the word "Jew". The search results present complex issues of unintended consequences and social dilemmas. http://sethf.com/anticensorware/google/jew-watch.php ------------------------------ 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. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management (MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35 credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including data, video, and voice networks. The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum. Classes are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning. Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at 405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at http://www.mstm.okstate.edu ************************ In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V23 #201 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Apr 23 00:54:55 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3N4stE27339; Fri, 23 Apr 2004 00:54:55 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 00:54:55 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404230454.i3N4stE27339@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 #202 TELECOM Digest Fri, 23 Apr 2004 00:55:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 202 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FCC May Tap Internet Phones (VOIP News) FCC Rejects AT&T VOIP Petition (VOIP News) Daniel Beringer Responds to FCC Denial AT&T VOIP Petition (VOIP News) Re: Can't Ping IP Printer (Gene Berkowitz) Global 900- Numbers...+979 (+979) Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 (Tom Betz) Re: Phone Line Connected to Satellite System Problems (Clarence Dold) Re: Factory Flaws Yield Headaches For Chip Makers (Lisa Hancock) Many Virii Going Out Under my Name Today (TELECOM Digest Editor) "Toothing" for Sex (Robert Weller) 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 are 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 13:10:44 -0400 Subject: FCC May Tap Internet Phones Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=13899&repository=0001_article By Lise Marken Thursday, April 22, 2004 A coalition of 13 higher-education and library associations is hoping to prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from requiring wiretap capabilities to be installed on Internet networks. Three federal agencies have petitioned the FCC to require Internet service providers, including many colleges and universities, to equip their networks with wiretap capabilities that allow law enforcement agencies to monitor Internet-based phone calling known as voice-over IP. The coalition, in comments filed with the FCC on April 12, argued that the proposed requirements would have a negative impact on research and education programs ... inhibit innovation, compromise privacy and be costly at a time when budgets are already strained to the breaking point. [.....] The dispute centers on the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, adopted in 1994. This law requires phone companies to engineer their networks to facilitate federal wire-tapping capabilities and the federal agencies are claiming that they require the same level of access to phone conversations that take place over the Internet. The coalition of university and library associations, however, disputes the claim that Internet networks should be included under the law. Full story at: http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=13899&repository=0001_article Additional comments at: http://andyabramson.blogs.com/voipwatch/2004/04/academics_and_l.html How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 23:30:37 -0400 Subject: FCC Rejects AT&T VOIP Petition Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.itworld.com/Man/2697/040422fccatt/ IDG News Service 4/22/04 Grant Gross, IDG News Service, Washington Bureau The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has rejected a petition from AT&T Corp. that would have allowed the company to avoid paying its telecommunications competitors access charges on telephone calls partly carried on IP (Internet Protocol) networks. Late Wednesday, the FCC announced its decision that traditional telephone calls that start and end on the public switched telephone network (PSTN), but are carried part of the time on AT&T's Internet backbone, are classified as telecommunications service. Those calls are subject to the access charges that are exchanged when a telephone call made through one carrier ends on another carrier's network. AT&T had asked the FCC for clarification on whether these phone calls should be classified as information services, like most other Internet-based traffic, and free from most FCC regulation. In February, the FCC decided that another voice over IP (VOIP) service, Free World Dialup, was exempt from most telecommunications regulations. Free World Dialup, a free service, allows members to talk to each other through software installed on their computers. The service does not allow members to place voice calls to nonmembers. But the FCC said AT&T's service fit squarely into the definitions of a telecommunications service because the phone calls start and end on the PSTN. "Today's decision is correctly decided on very narrow grounds," FCC Chairman Michael Powell said in a statement "A straightforward application of existing law places the long distance telephone service, as it is factually described by AT&T, squarely in the category of a telecommunications service." Full story at: http://www.itworld.com/Man/2697/040422fccatt/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 23:48:33 -0400 Subject: Daniel Berninger Responds to FCC Denial AT&T VoIP Petition Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.telephonyworld.com/cgi-bin/news/viewnews.cgi?category=all&id=1082683725 DANIEL BERNINGER RESPONDS TO FCC DENIAL AT&T VOIP PETITION AND IMPOSES OF ACCESS FEES Daniel Berninger available to comment on why FCC's denial of AT&T petition sets a very negative precedent - dan@danielberninger.com, +1.202.250.3428 See FCC Order denying AT&T VoIP petition at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-97A1.pdf Daniel Berninger -- independent technology analyst based in Washington, DC. Expert in technical and regulatory aspects of the Internet communication applications. Active in VoIP since 1995. Daniel worked on the original assessment of VoIP at Bell Laboratories and led early gateway deployments at Verizon, HP, and NASA after joining VocalTec Communications. He won the 1999 VON Pioneer Award as co-founder of the VON Coalition and worked on the founding of ITXC, Vonage, and Free World Dialup. Daniel Berninger co-authored the Inflexion Communication petition: FCC data shows five percent of the population cannot afford telephone service even given existing cross-subsidy schemes. Inflexion Communications' Petition (see FCC 04-52) for Declaratory Ruling that ExtendIP Voice Service is Exempt from Access Charges argues imposition of access fees on VoIP discourages investment and threatens the prospects for addressing underserved markets: Full story at: http://www.telephonyworld.com/cgi-bin/news/viewnews.cgi?category=all&id=1082683725 ------------------------------ From: Gene S. Berkowitz Subject: Re: Can't Ping IP Printer? Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 23:59:07 -0400 In article , me@privacy.net says: > I've set up three routers to provide security between two small > networks, yet be able to share resources. > The setup consists of a Speedstream DSL modem, a Netgear FVS318 > immediately downstream; and two RP614v2 routers plugged into the > '318. All computers (6 total) are plugged into the 614's. > I configured the routers so that they each have unique IP addresses, > and serve (DHCP) unique ranges of IP addresses. > All computers can share the DSL service without problems. Everything > seemed fine. > I then added an HP LaserJet 2300 printer with built-in Ethernet card > (HP option). I plugged the printer into the '318. I then set up a > (memory is a bit fuzzy, here) port for access to the printer's IP > address (I think). > When the printer is plugged into either of the 614's, the computers on > that network can print to the printer. When it is plugged into the > 318, no one can see it or print to it. Pinging doesn't work either (no > packets returned; times out) when the printer is on the "other side" > of the 614. > I presume it is possible to access the printer across the router; what > am I overlooking? > Thanks, > DaveC > me@privacy.net > This is an invalid return address > Please reply in the news group By default, the JetDirect ethernet interface looks for a DHCP server, which is probably handing out a different IP than the routers did; did you check what IP the printer is using (you can print out a test print with this info on it). Try disabling DHCP on the printer, and use a fixed IP. Also, are you sure that the port on the '318 doesn't require a crossover cable for talking to the printer? Gene ------------------------------ From: global900numbers@yahoo.com (+979) Subject: Global 900- Numbers...+979 Date: 22 Apr 2004 17:41:20 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Reply to whowever was asking: "Anybody knows any international 900 numbers?" I heard an interesting concept that finally global 900- numbers are being implemented around the globe and that will be a big help for anybody doing any type of 900 business at local or global scale. The company's email address I found was info@maiden.vg and it seems that they really have the numbers in service already, finally even got somebody on the phone too. The good thing about these e.g. from USA 011-979.... numbers is that the local regulations do not apply so strictly since it is really an international call. I did some research about +979 or International Premium Rate Number (IPRN ) and they seem to be real and also the providers can be found at ITU website. Well done, whoever came with an idea. There must be ton of business for this type of service. Hope this helps you :) ------------------------------ From: Tom Betz Subject: Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 23:10:02 +0000 (UTC) Organization: XOme Quoth dold@FedsXXNoXA.usenet.us.com in news:telecom23.199.7@telecom- digest.org: > My primary TV is a 1993 32" RCA CRT that still looks as good as it > ever did. Likewise with my 1991 25" Sony Trinitron. That's a damned good picture tube. "I am afeard there are few die well that die in a battle; for how can they charitably dispose of anything when blood is their argument? Now, if these men do not die well, it will be a black matter for the King that led them to it; who to disobey were against all proportion of subjection." - W.S. ------------------------------ From: dold@PhoneXLine.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: Phone Line Connected to Satellite System Problems Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 23:16:12 UTC Organization: a2i network > On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 20:43:03 -0400, Keith Knipschild > wrote: >> I recently got a Satellite System installed from DISH Network, The >> receiver needs to be connected to a phone line otherwise Dish charges >> $5 a month. >> But I seem to be having a problem, The DISH receiver does not >> recognize my phone line, (Which is POTS) it fails on a phone line >> test. >> I then remembered that since I have VOICE DIALING, the dial tone is >> very brief ... Maybe that is causing the failure. From the page http://www.tivofaq.com/index.html?http://www.tivofaq.com/Bugs.html In Messages & Setup -> Recorder & Phone Setup -> Phone Connection -> Change Dialing Options, set the Phone Available and the Dialtone Detection options to OFF. Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Factory Flaws Yield Headaches For Chip Makers Date: 22 Apr 2004 19:19:44 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Monty Solomon wrote > SAN FRANCISCO, April 21 (Reuters) - For chip makers, problems on the > factory floor are increasingly turning into big headaches in the > executive suite. Some of the world's biggest chip makers have lost > both money and time straightening out the extraordinarily complex > process of turning microchip designs and discs of silicon into > working electronics. This is nothing new and goes back 55 years. When IBM began building electronic computers using radio tubes, they found that minute imperfections -- that weren't noticed in radio usage -- resulted in errors in computing. IBM worked hard to define requirements for computer tubes and get tube makers to mfr them per those specs. It took at least ten years after the invention of the transistor to get them into computers for the reasons above. Until that point, transistors cost _more_ than tubes despite being simpler and smaller. Making quality transistors in volume was a very difficult challenge. For every new solid state technology, manufacturing in volume was tough. IBM and others spent millions building new plants, and sometimes stuff still failed. IBM's S/360, introduced 40 years ago and used early integrated circuitry, was delayed on account of component problems. ------------------------------ From: ptownson@telecom-digest.org Subject: Lots of Virii Out Being Sent by 'me'. Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 16:39:32 EDT A large number of virii are being sent to Digest readers from "me" via Denmark. > One of my correspondents noted to me: Below is the From and TO with > the subject warning. It was transmitted from 62.240.100.70 an ISP > somewhere in Denmark or The Netherlands (I'm not in my office with the > luxuries of trace). > My virus checker picked up the file and deleted it. What really makes me sick is that of course I send out this Digest and many readers depend on the ability to click on the various links they find in it each issue to get further news reports, etc. I hope you will not stop clicking on links you get in email from me because of the fact that there are virii going around sent by 'me'. Obviously I do not send out single emails with an attachment to 'please click here' to 'read', etc. Of course you should also take note if the attachment you got from the imposter claiming to be me contains '.exe' as part of the file name. I suppose I should now prepare some form reply to be sent to inquirers (of which there were two today). But to regular readers here, well you don't have to be told the story. You know about that stuff. PAT ------------------------------ From: Robert Weller Subject: "Toothing" for Sex Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 16:04:35 -0700 FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management (MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35 credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including data, video, and voice networks. The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum. Classes are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning. Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at 405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at http://www.mstm.okstate.edu ************************ In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V23 #202 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Apr 23 20:32:04 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3O0W3g06316; Fri, 23 Apr 2004 20:32:04 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 20:32:04 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404240032.i3O0W3g06316@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 #203 TELECOM Digest Fri, 23 Apr 2004 20:31:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 203 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Paying For Incoming Mobile Phone Calls (Monty Solomon) In a Fast-Moving Web World, Some Prefer the Dial-Up Lane (Monty Solomon) Cheaper Than TiVo: Souping Up Your Computer (Monty Solomon) Dogging Craze Has Brits in Heat/Brits at It Tooth and Nail (M Solomon) The GMail Saga (Monty Solomon) Re: Honesty from Earthlink (Barry Margolin) Re: Lots of Virii Out Being Sent by 'me' (Barry Margolin) Re: Factory Flaws Yield Headaches For Chip Makers (Justin Time) Re: FCC Rejects AT&T VOIP Petition (Justin Time) Every Business In The World Will Soon Be Webcasting (Press Release) Re: VoIP Problem With Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 (Scott) Model 820 Control Unit (JaBrIoL) Re: Toll Free (1-800) Line ANI Delivery Question (Keith) Motorola Introduces New Cable Modems Designed for Wireless (VOIP News) China VOIP Operator Could Face Years in Jail (VOIP News) Jeff Pulver's Blog: IP-MoU: Getting Started (VOIP News) 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 are 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: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 01:02:31 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Re: Paying For Incoming Mobile Phone Calls > My question is: Do all mobile phone rate plans in the U.S.A. charge > talk-time for the incoming calls? If Yes, then why isn't anybody > demanding that incoming calls be free for the mobile phones there? Nextel offers various plans that include unlimited incoming calls. Thy also offer a rate plan which has everything unlimited ... Nextel National Unlimited NDC Plus Plan -- New -- Everything is unlimited including Nationwide Direct Connect! Includes unlimited incoming, outgoing, Domestic Long Distance, Direct Connect and Nationwide Direct Connect calls. Also includes unlimited AOL Instant Messenger, unlimited Two-Way Messaging and Mobile Email with the Nextel Full Service Package. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 01:05:41 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: In a Fast-Moving Web World, Some Prefer the Dial-Up Lane By MATT RICHTEL SAN FRANCISCO, April 18 - High-speed Internet access is being adopted by millions of Americans each year, growing as quickly as any modern technology. So what makes Dana Jenkins think she can resist? In fact, she is part of another big group, the tens of millions of Americans seemingly immune to the lure of more speed and satisfied with dial-up services. A majority of Americans who surf the Internet still do so by dialing in on regular telephone lines, despite the rapidly narrowing price gap between high-speed and dial-up connections. People like Ms. Jenkins are neither Luddites nor laggards, but consumers content to pay for a service that is less than optimal, and at times even frustratingly slow, because they say greater speed is not worth the trouble of starting over with a new telecommunications provider and getting a new e-mail address, even if the added cost is small. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/19/technology/19DIAL.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 01:14:03 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cheaper Than TiVo: Souping Up Your Computer By WALTER S. MOSSBERG The coolest, trendiest way to watch television today is by using a digital video recorder, or DVR. With a DVR system, you can pause or rewind live TV. And, more important, you can record any program for viewing later without enduring the twin hassles of videotape recording: complicated programming and the need to keep blank tapes handy. That's because DVRs record TV shows to a large hard disk, and you pick the shows to record by just clicking their names in an onscreen program guide. But buying a DVR can be costly. The most popular options are high-end set-top boxes containing technology from TiVo, or its rival, Replay TV, which require a fee-based service; or, high-end Media Center PCs, that use a PC's internal hard disk as a DVR. If your budget is limited, and you have a plain old Windows PC, however, you can turn it into a DVR by using a new product from SnapStream Media, a small company from Houston. SnapStream's Beyond TV 3 includes DVR software for Windows, and is bundled with the necessary hardware -- an external TV tuner from Hauppauge Computer Works that plugs into the computer with a simple USB cable. This bundle is sold on the SnapStream.com Web site for $229.99. No service fee is charged. My assistant Katie Boehret and I tested Beyond TV this week. It worked, but in two separate tests, we were tempted to rename it Beyond Patience. We found setting up the product to be frustrating and difficult, and concluded that it is more suitable for techies than for mainstream users. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20040414.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 01:18:41 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Dogging Craze Has Brits in Heat / Brits Going at It Tooth and Nail Dogging Craze Has Brits in Heat http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,62718,00.html Brits Going at It Tooth and Nail http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,62687,00.html "Toothing" latest hi-tech sex craze http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=495183§ion=news ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 00:46:08 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The GMail Saga by Brad Templeton Much has been written about the new Google GMail trial, which is an e-mail service that offers a gigabyte of archiving, Google search of your mail archives and a nice interface. It's free, because while you read your mail, Google ads will be displayed based on keywords found in the mail you are reading (just as the Google Adsense program shows ads like the ones you see on the right based on words found in this document.) GMail created a surprising storm for a product that hasn't yet been released. A coalition of privacy groups asked Google to hold back on releasing it. A California state senator proposed a law to ban the advertising function. Editorials and blog entries left and right have condemned it and praised it. I come to this problem from two sides. One, I'm a fan of Google, and have been friends with Google's management since they started the company. I've also consulted for Google on other matters and make surprising revenue from their Adsense program on my web site. I'm also a privacy advocate and Chairman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, well regarded as one of the top civil rights advocates in cyberspace. The EFF has issued some statements of privacy concern over GMail, though we declined joining the coalition against it. (I'm writing this as my own essay, though with some advice from the EFF team.) I've also had a chance to talk at length with Google President Larry Page about some of the issues. Here's a summary of some of my conclusions http://www.templetons.com/brad/gmail.html ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Honesty from Earthlink Organization: Looking for work Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 00:55:09 -0400 In article , Edson C. Hendricks wrote: > Ed.H: All right, I can see you have no more answers. Thank you very > much for your attention, although I must tell in closing that your > explanation doesn't satisfy me, and I doubt it would satisfy > practically any objective reader. Let's say you're right, and they're deliberately not fixing the opt-out mechanism. Did you really expect a customer support rep to admit that they're blatantly lying to customers? More likely, they're keeping it a secret from the CSRs as well. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Lots of Virii Out Being Sent by 'me'. Organization: Looking for work Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 00:57:47 -0400 In article , ptownson@telecom-digest.org wrote: > A large number of virii are being sent to Digest readers from "me" > via Denmark. Pat, many types of worms and viruses pick a random address from the sender's address book and use this to forge the From address when propagating themselves. Your address is in lots of address books, so naturally it gets used alot. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I know that. We discussed it before. All I am trying to do now is warn *everyone* not to open any attachments sent by me. (a) I do not send attachments, and (b) people tend to open and read what I do send out and (c) I do not want to see any guys get hurt or their computers garbaged out and *think* it was on account of me. Most readers here are 'far too sophisticated' and knowledgeable to fall for the 'read this atttachment' gag any longer. I was NOT saying what I did because it was some surprise to me; the difficulty is I see many, many guys using computers who do not have the brains that God gave a goose. No offense intended, really none, but picture, if you will some young guy who saved up his money, or got some money for his birthday or Christmas and went out and bought his very first computer in the last few months. Now he or she is learning how to use email and the internet. Forget about the more esoteric aspects of networking; just learning how to send/receive email from friends and family. First day the new email account is turned on, a hundred pieces of spam with a virus or two thrown in. Or consider my mother for example: she has had her Walmart-style Mail Station for about a year now and *still* almost has a heart attack each day when she goes to read her email. 'mailstation.com' is an alias which points at Earthlink. At one point she was actually trying to write back to all the spammers asking them 'how did my email address get on your list?' and trying to be cordial and polite in getting removed. People like her and the newer, inexper- ienced guys just getting started are the ones I am concerned about. Its a rotten time to be getting into computers for the first time. PAT] ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Factory Flaws Yield Headaches For Chip Makers Date: 23 Apr 2004 05:38:22 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote in message news:: > Monty Solomon wrote >> SAN FRANCISCO, April 21 (Reuters) - For chip makers, problems on the >> factory floor are increasingly turning into big headaches in the >> executive suite. Some of the world's biggest chip makers have lost >> both money and time straightening out the extraordinarily complex >> process of turning microchip designs and discs of silicon into >> working electronics. > This is nothing new and goes back 55 years. > When IBM began building electronic computers using radio tubes, > they found that minute imperfections -- that weren't noticed in > radio usage -- resulted in errors in computing. IBM worked hard > to define requirements for computer tubes and get tube makers > to mfr them per those specs. > It took at least ten years after the invention of the transistor to > get them into computers for the reasons above. Until that point, > transistors cost _more_ than tubes despite being simpler and smaller. > Making quality transistors in volume was a very difficult challenge. > For every new solid state technology, manufacturing in volume was > tough. IBM and others spent millions building new plants, and > sometimes stuff still failed. IBM's S/360, introduced 40 years ago > and used early integrated circuitry, was delayed on account of > component problems. Ahhh -- I thought they had problems with the units so their field engineers could subsist on a diet of Coca-Cola and Toastee-Cheese crackers while the drove from site to site in the new Cadillacs they bought with their overtime! My wife still marvels at how I could take a phone call at 3:00 in the morning and start asking the person what lights were on, what switches were in what position and other basic (at that time) troubleshooting questions when I had just gotten to bed an hour before. But Cadillacs fail -- almost as fast as the body subsisting on the "Field Engineer's Lunch." Believe me -- dial tone is easier on the body. Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: FCC Rejects AT&T VOIP Petition Date: 23 Apr 2004 05:40:58 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com VOIP News wrote in message news:: > http://www.itworld.com/Man/2697/040422fccatt/ > IDG News Service 4/22/04 > Grant Gross, IDG News Service, Washington Bureau > The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has rejected a > petition from AT&T Corp. that would have allowed the company to avoid > paying its telecommunications competitors access charges on telephone > calls partly carried on IP (Internet Protocol) networks. > Late Wednesday, the FCC announced its decision that traditional > telephone calls that start and end on the public switched telephone > network (PSTN), but are carried part of the time on AT&T's Internet > backbone, are classified as telecommunications service. Those calls > are subject to the access charges that are exchanged when a telephone > call made through one carrier ends on another carrier's network. > AT&T had asked the FCC for clarification on whether these phone calls > should be classified as information services, like most other > Internet-based traffic, and free from most FCC regulation. In > February, the FCC decided that another voice over IP (VOIP) service, > Free World Dialup, was exempt from most telecommunications > regulations. Free World Dialup, a free service, allows members to talk > to each other through software installed on their computers. The > service does not allow members to place voice calls to nonmembers. > But the FCC said AT&T's service fit squarely into the definitions of a > telecommunications service because the phone calls start and end on > the PSTN. "Today's decision is correctly decided on very narrow > grounds," FCC Chairman Michael Powell said in a statement "A > straightforward application of existing law places the long distance > telephone service, as it is factually described by AT&T, squarely in > the category of a telecommunications service." > Full story at: > http://www.itworld.com/Man/2697/040422fccatt/ Hmmm -- If I have a DSL circuit connected to Vonage or one of the others, would they then be in the telecommunications business as the beginning and end of the call travel over the PSTN? Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 16:54:37 +0400 From: Editor Subject: Every Business In The World Will Soon Be Webcasting Says http://www.pressreleasenetwork.com Every Business In The World Will Soon Be Webcasting Says Edmonton-Based Webcast Leader Worldprofit, Inc. Alberta, Canada - April 23, 2004 (PRN): Consider this. Your business has multiple locations. You want to keep in touch with your employees but the travel is expensive, time-consuming and exhausting. Solution? Webcast. Sit down at your computer and deliver your remarks live and in living color to everyone you need to speak to. Cost for them to attend? Nothing! How about this? You're a consultant, trainer, author and deliver programs and services. Since 9/11 you've watched your markets dry up because people don't want to fly and aren't attending so many conferences. How do you reach your prospects? Easy! You webcast -- without ever leaving your home or office! Got a product or service? Growing a network marketing organization? Need to speak regularly with prospects, customers, decision makers? Then sit down at your computer and WEBCAST. Webcasting, programs delivered online, is the next huge wave from the Internet. And Worldprofit, Inc. at www.worldprofit.com is the hands down industry leader. Worldprofit, Inc. is the first to offer a completely web based online conference system that requires no specialized equipment, downloads, or sophisticated technical knowledge to set-up, use and operate. Worldprofit's LIVE Seminar and Conference Center allows for the delivery of full video presentations accessible by simply accessing a web site address. Now speakers on any subject, in any business, can talk live with incredibly clear audio and video to hundreds of participants anywhere in the world! Got customers in China, Bolivia, Germany or anywhere else? You can talk to them LIVE 24 hours a day, and it never costs them a penny! The only equipment required by the speaker is a web camera (about $50) and an Internet connection. The audience requires only an Internet connection. Speakers see and hear the LIVE or recorded presentations from the comfort of their home or office. This cutting-edge technology allows for the delivery of formal or informal presentations complete with audience interaction, guest speakers, and Slide Shows. The technology also allows the business or organization to offer seminars free to participants or as paid events. Businesses worldwide are applauding this astonishing, years-ahead-of- the-pack technology developed in Alberta - based Worldprofit, Inc. by Director of Technology George Kosch, as the way all business will be conducted online in the future! It's easy to see why. Earlier versions of webcast conferencing required long downloads, special equipment installations, and then delivered only mediocre and choppy reception. Worldprofit's system is being heralded as incredibly easy to use even by non-techies and astounding in the quality of the presentations. Bandwidth issues were also a problem in previous attempts at webcasting, but Worldprofit's LIVE Seminar and Conference Studio uses technology that virtually eliminates the bandwidth issues of the past. Even VOICE OVER IP technology cannot compete with the simplicity and superior results of Worldprofit's LIVE Seminar and Conference system. Selling ANY product, service, business opportunity? Got distributors or employees in multiple locations? Anxious to connect with prospects and customers worldwide? Running a nonprofit organization with donors and supporters you'd like to communicate with? These are all common applications for Worldprofit's superior LIVE Seminar and Conference system. For an interview with George Kosch, the software developer, call (780) 444-7477 ext 222, or email customerservice@worldprofit.com To register for the next live event and see a LIVE demonstration go to: http://worldprofit.com/webcast/register For more information, contact: George Kosch Director of Technology Worldprofit Inc. 17505 107 Ave, #205 Edmonton, AB. T5S 1E5 Tel: 780-444-7477 Fax: 780-483-8672 Email: customerservice@worldprofit.com http://www.worldprofit.com Information from Press Release Network may be freely distributed to any publication. Wherever applicable, please cite Press Release Network as the news source. DISCLAIMER: The content of each press release is the responsibility of the publishing organization and is not vetted or approved by Press Release Network prior to publication. Press Release Network is not liable directly or indirectly for any direct or consequential loss, damage or expense resulting from the material disseminated and published on the site. Subscribers are advised to check the accuracy of all press releases and to obtain their own professional advice in relation to such information. editor@pressreleasenetwork.com http://www.pressreleasenetwork.com ------------------------------ From: sdgreymont@yahoo.com (Scott) Subject: Re: VoIP Problem With Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 Date: 23 Apr 2004 05:56:34 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com We are experiencing a similar issue where the end party using a VOIP phone cannot hear the second party. Have you had any success on this problem? ------------------------------ From: Jabriol@excite.com (JaBrIoL) Subject: Model 820 Control Unit Date: 23 Apr 2004 06:33:36 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com All, Good morning, I have a Model 820 control Unit. I've notice that I can not use a power module 338E for the Unit that I have. It only works with the power module 338A. I need a Control Unit that works with the 338E. Does anyone know the comcode number for the Control Unit that function with the 338E. Does anyone have it? ------------------------------ From: Keith Subject: Re: Toll Free (1-800) Line ANI Delivery Question Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 09:39:42 -0400 news.sbcglobal.net wrote in message news:telecom23.199.4@telecom-digest.org: > Is it true that ANI is a guarantee service for the PRI 800 service > line and ANI cannot be blocked? I can't help you on the bulk of your question, but I can answer this part. In most cases, ANI should be guaranteed, and should work, but there are some exceptions. There are(were?) ways to force an ANI failure. One method is to have an operator place the 800 call for you. Dial your local operator, or long distance operator, and ask her to place the call for you. It seems that since the call apparently originates from her position, ANI simply isn't forwarded at all, or in some cases only the area code is transmitted. This can be tested with an 800 ANI verification service. Keith [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But the operator always sees *your* number, and just as with calls to '911' which go through the operator (who does not dial '911' usually but the seven-digit number 911 translates into [i.e. in Chicago for example, '911' = 312-787-0000]) the operator *theoretically* announces calls (to 911 or 800-whatever) by passing the calling number to the called party. I say 'theoreticlly* because many operators are lazy; others are too busy to hold up the calling party's line for a ring-back as needed. Keith, your system will work as long as the operator is not an eager-beaver perfectionist, which most of them are not. Most do not even know how to put a 'shoe' on the line to keep it 'up' until they decide to release it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 11:38:03 -0400 Subject: Motorola Introduces New Cable Modems Designed for Wireless Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.motorola.com/mediacenter/news/detail/0,,4117_3474_23,00.html Motorola Introduces New Cable Modems Designed for Wireless Home Networking and Internet Telephony Motorola extends its market leadership in the broadband-powered connected home with two new products for customers worldwide. HORSHAM, Pa., 22 April 2004 Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today unveiled two powerful new cable modems for the connected home, the Motorola SBV5120 and the Motorola SBG940. Both products are compliant with the latest industry standards and extend the feature set of the company's proven platform for IP services, integrating capabilities such as voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephony or wireless home networking. The Motorola SBV5120 'Integrated Solution for Telephony and Data': The Motorola SBV5120 is the newest member of Motorola's family of telephony cable modems, providing an integrated solution for voice telephony services and high-speed Internet access. The product combines a multimedia telephony adapter with a PacketCableTM-compliant cable modem which was recently certified for DOCSIS® 2.0 and 1.1 (CW28), and Euro-DOCSIS 2.0. The Motorola SBV5120 allows consumers to use their existing home telephone wiring to power two lines of voice service, and supports all class features including: Basic call functionality Three-way calling Caller ID Call forwarding Voicemail messaging Optional battery back-up The Motorola SBG940 'Simplifying Wireless Home Networks' The Motorola SBG940 simplifies the process of building a wireless home network. By bringing together two of Motorola's inherent strengths its worldwide leadership in wireless communications and its technology expertise in building broadband networks, the Motorola SBG940 saves consumers from the headache of integrating multiple devices when building a robust home network. The SBG940 also offers enhanced features, including: Integrated 802.11g Wireless Access Point Integrated DOCSIS 2.0-certified / Euro-DOCSIS 2.0-certified Cable Modem Recently CableHome 1.0 certified (CW28) Integrated four port 10/100 Ethernet Switch Integrated Advanced firewall protection USB port for a PC connection Motorola will demonstrate DOCSIS 2.0-certified versions of these products at the NCTA 2004 trade show (2-5 May, New Orleans, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center) at the company's booth #3323. In addition, Motorola's wireless gateway technology is being used at NCTA to enable wireless Internet access in the shows designated Wi-Fi area. The company will also demonstrate Euro-DOCSIS 2.0-certified versions of these products, the SBV5120E and SBG940E at ANGA Cable 2004, (11-13 May 2004, Kln, Germany) at Motorola stand B4, Hall 13.1. How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 11:41:12 -0400 Subject: China VOIP Operator Could Face Years in Jail Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.idg.com.hk/cw/readstory.asp?aid=20040423002 By Martyn Williams IDG News Service, Tokyo Bureau A man suspected of managing an illegal voice-over-IP (VOIP) telephone service in China faces a prison sentence of at least five years if convicted, according to a China Daily report. The man, identified only by his surname Zou [cq] and home town of Qingdao in eastern China, was arrested in March this year after police and telecommunication officials found a number of facilities including an illegal Internet gateway, said the report. The police investigation apparently began in February when Zou was advertising his cheaper call service to foreign companies, it said. Full story at: http://www.idg.com.hk/cw/readstory.asp?aid=20040423002 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 12:04:01 -0400 Subject: Jeff Pulver's Blog: IP-MoU: Getting Started Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://192.246.69.231/jeff/personal/index.html The Jeff Pulver Blog Notes, comments and observations April 23, 2004 IP-MoU: Getting Started The IP-MoU ["Internet Protocol Memorandum of Understanding"] website launched earlier this week and the momentum surrounding this activity is starting to grow. The IP-MoU is an international consortium of IP-based service and application providers intent on quickly realizing the promise of interconnecting ubiquitous IP communications. The IP-MoU will adopt and implement common principles designed to promote three primary objectives: Promote the interoperability, interconnection and ubiquity of IP-based service and applications. Establish processes to ensure that IP-based services and applications comply with local, national and international laws and social objectives such as: Emergency Response; Law enforcement; Access by persons with disabilities. Ensure that consumers worldwide are assured basic rights as users of IP communications: - Freedom to Access Content: Consumers should have access to their choice of legal content; - Freedom to Use Applications: Consumers should be able to run applications of their choice; - Freedom to Attach Personal Devices: Consumers should be permitted to attach any devices they choose to the connection in their homes; - Freedom to Obtain Service Plan Information: Consumers should receive meaningful information regarding their service plans; and Protection of Consumer Privacy: Consumers should know that their personal information is safeguarded, except to the extent necessary to abide by law enforcement obligations. The next meeting will be taking place on April 26th. Posted by jeff at 07:19 AM The Jeff Pulver Blog: http://192.246.69.231/jeff/personal/index.html ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #203 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Apr 24 12:58:14 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3OGwEU12674; Sat, 24 Apr 2004 12:58:14 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 12:58:14 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404241658.i3OGwEU12674@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 #204 TELECOM Digest Sat, 24 Apr 2004 12:58:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 204 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson VOIP Fledgling in Founders Flap (VOIP News) ZipGlobal First to Offer Retail Internet Telephony Service (VOIP News) Stealth Communications Announces Official Launch of VPF ENUM (VOIP News) Canada CRTC Extends Review of IP Telephony Rules (VOIP News) Wake-up Call: Voice-over Internet Poised to Reshape (VOIP News) Taxes on VOIP Service? (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) Packet8 -- A VOIP Review (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) Eritrea Cellphone Curbs Put Democracy on Hold (Joseph) Cell Phone Spending's Black Hole (Eric Friedebach) Next Treo 600? (Thomas Popple) "Old Style" Telephone Call Recording Device (Diamond Dave) How to Return Lost Cellular Telephone Found on Street (Don Saklad) Re: The GMail Saga (jmayson@nyx.net) 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 are 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 14:14:52 -0400 Subject: VOIP Fledgling in Founders Flap Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=51585 This week's launch of StreamCast Networks Inc.'s Morpheus Voicebox put i2Telecom International Inc. on the map as a provider of voice-over-IP hardware and service to U.S. consumers (see Morpheus Morphs Into VOIP Provider ). But before taking on P2P VOIP competitors, i2Telecom was already fighting the founders of a company it acquired. The founders of SuperCaller Community Inc. are seeking to rescind the sale of SuperCaller to i2Telecom and collect damages of at least $40 million, according to the lawsuit they filed last December in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Their suit alleges that i2Telecom's directors and officers carried out an elaborate scheme to trick the founders of SuperCaller into relinquishing control of their company and intellectual property. I2Telecom says the suit is without merit and has moved to dismiss the case. Full story at: http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=51585 How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 18:50:11 -0400 Subject: ZipGlobal Is First to Offer Retail Internet Telephony Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com This press release puzzles me -- maybe I'm missing something, but it seems to me that any supposed advantage of this kit is negated by the fact that you have to order it online. If you could walk into a local store and buy it then I could perhaps see some advantage, but a "a pay-as-you-go, off-the-shelf retail VoIP service" loses a lot when the "shelf" isn't local. So what am I missing here? http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=66295 ZipGlobal Is First to Offer Retail Internet Telephony Service Pack on Sina.com QUINCY, MA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 04/23/2004 -- ZipGlobal, a leading provider of Internet telephone services, today announced Sina.com US as the first North American online retailer to offer the ZipGlobal To-Go service kit through its virtual shopping mall, Sina Mall (http://mall.sina.com). ZipGlobal is the first in the market to offer a pay-as-you-go, off-the-shelf retail VoIP service. High-speed Internet users can purchase the To-Go kit and start making calls. To-Go users are not subject to monthly fees, binding contracts, or other surcharges. In addition, the package includes a free $10 calling bonus for making calls to domestic and international destinations. Calls to the US, Canada, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, for example, cost 2 cents per minute. "SIP-based VoIP service is still a brand new concept to most consumers. The ZipGlobal To-Go service pack allows users to try our service with no strings attached. We firmly believe in our voice quality and that our service will bring huge cost savings to customers, especially those who make frequent calls overseas. If you are not happy with the service, we will gladly refund your money. Better yet, if you decide not to continue with the service after 30 days, we will repurchase the equipment from you for $30," said Jimmy Li, ZipGlobal CEO. "We are excited that Sina is partnering with us to distribute this unique product." ZipGlobal offers benefits to customers, including: -- Significant cost savings -- Excellent voice quality -- Ease of installation, use and account tracking -- Compatible with PBX systems and fax for business use -- Enhanced features and functionality -- Global service portability The ZipGlobal To-Go pack includes a Sipura SPA-1000 telephone adapter. Customers can make calls on their ZipGlobal gateway or wireless phone by recharging their account with ZipGlobal Recharge Cards or by making payments with a credit card. ZipGlobal To-Go customers can also upgrade to the regular ZipGlobal service to customize their service plans and features. About ZipGlobal ZipGlobal, headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts, is a leading provider of global digital telephone services. With its ground-breaking Voice-over-IP technology, ZipGlobal seamlessly integrates the best of local and long distance telecommunications to meet users' needs. ZipGlobal delivers cost-savings, technology ease-of-use, and superb sound quality that customers have come to expect from traditional phone services. Customers only need to have broadband Internet and a telephone. Web address: www.ZipGlobal.com ZipGlobal Contact Sissi Liu ZipGlobal 617-786-0909 sissiliu@zipglobal.com Full story at: http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=66295 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are right, Jack. I do not see what makes this such a great deal. Vonage, for example, runs their own 'virtual storefront' or mall, themselves. Anyone going to http://vonage.com can see their offerings, and they've been doing it for about a year or maybe a little more. But Vonage has also 'gone retail' in a bigger way I think; they are also on the shelves in Best Buy, I think, or maybe it is Computer World or Costco; not sure which. Vonage gives their own 'e-coupons' as well, or some kind of rebate plan. You buy the Motorola MTA and pay for a year's subscription up front. And the two guys who run our Radio Shack store here in Independence said they have heard that Radio Shack was probably going to get in on the Vonage action through retail store sales before long. The neat thing about retail store sales of Vonage is you buy it anonymously if desired, install it and it remains anonymous unless you choose to send in the warrantee card or the rebate paperwork, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 23:12:43 -0400 Subject: Stealth Communications Announces Official Launch of VPF ENUM Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-23-2004/0002158611&EDATE= Stealth Communications Announces Official Launch of VPF ENUM Registry NEW YORK, April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Stealth Communications, Inc., which owns and operates the Voice Peering Fabric, the World's first and only VoIP minutes exchange to provide complete transparency between buyers and sellers of VoIP routes, today announces the official launch of the VPF ENUM Registry. "ENUM changes everything," said Shrihari Pandit, CEO and Founder of Stealth, and the leading architect behind the breakthrough technology underpinning the VPF. "ENUM is a network protocol that takes a telephone number and resolves it to a URL, like the way a traditional Domain Name Server (DNS) takes a URL (like http://www.google.com) and converts it into a numeric IP address. With ENUM, the telephone number is sent to the DNS server, which then replies back with a list of URL's. This opens up a whole new world of applications and services driven solely by a phone number," says Pandit. Imagine yourself storing a collection of fax, voice, mobile, and e-mail addresses in a single ENUM address. The person who initiates the call may access your preferred contact information and may choose the method of communications. The possibilities are endless and wide ranging: "it [ENUM] has the potential to drastically reduce the operating expenses of VoIP carriers because it allows them to terminate directly on each others network at zero cost," added Pandit. For example, telephone calls made between two organizations would transit through the PSTN and incur termination charges. Using the VPF ENUM Registry, both organizations are able to terminate calls directly to one another, with no termination costs. Access to the VPF ENUM Registry is not limited to service providers. Educational institutions, municipal governments and businesses all can use the service to cut costs, while greatly enhancing the capabilities of their voice networks. Current participants to the service include: Acropolis Telecom, Addaline.Com, Free World Dialup, MIT, Net2phone, Packet8, and Yale University. Stealth's VPF ENUM Registry presently holds over 1 million phone numbers. While this represents only a small number of the total phone numbers in the US, Pandit is quick to point out that "ENUM represents truly disruptive technology, in that it has the potential to obsolete the public phone network." Pandit envisions a day when Stealth's VPF ENUM Registry will house most, if not all of the phone numbers on the planet. And why not, it's free. About Stealth Communications, Inc. Stealth Communications, Inc., New York City's largest Internet gateway, owns and operates the Voice Peering Fabric. For more information about the VPF visit http://www.thevpf.com. For information regarding other services offered by Stealth, visit http://www.stealth.net SOURCE Stealth Communications, Inc. Web Site: http://www.stealth.net http://www.thevpf.com ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 23:32:35 -0400 Subject: Canada CRTC Extends Review of IP Telephony Rules Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040423.gtrnews23-3/BNStory/Technology/ Globe and Mail Update The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has extended its review of rules for telephone service using Internet protocol technology, bowing to pressure from the country's largest phone companies and consumer groups. Full story at: http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040423.gtrnews23-3/BNStory/Technology/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 06:34:22 -0400 Subject: Wake-up Call: Voice-Over Internet Technology Poised to Reshape Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2004/03/27/news/news07.txt Voice-over Internet technology poised to reshape telecommunications industry By STEVE ADAMS The Patriot Ledger QUINCY - Jimmy Li picks up the speakerphone and punches in a sequence of numbers on the keypad. Within seconds, a ring tone emerges from the speaker, and Li's business partner Ken Ieung responds with a groggy greeting from his hotel room. "I just called Hong Kong," Li said, triumphantly concluding a demo of his product. Another revolution is starting in the telecommunications industry and one of the skirmishes is playing out in a spare office deep inside the Kam Man Marketplace in Quincy. ZipGlobal, Li's start-up company, is selling Internet-based long-distance plans, targeting Asian-Americans in the U.S. and their family and friends overseas. The calling plans allow customers to call Asia from their home or cell phones for as little as 1 cent a minute. Full story at: http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2004/03/27/news/news07.txt ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> Subject: Taxes on VOIP Service? Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 09:20:38 -0600 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Just signed up for VOIP service from http://www.packet8.net and have been reasonably impressed with the service and voice quality. I may write up a review and post it in the near future. One thing that puzzles me though: Although the bill is refreshingly free of all the usual taxes, surcharges and fees found on land and cell bills, Packet8 does charge a 3% Spanish American War Luxury Tax (Federal Excise Tax) on the monthly subscription fee. It's not clear to me why they should be doing this. I pay that tax on the DSL line already. I also pay it on the underlying voice telephone line. Why should it apply to what is essentially a data applications service? Anyone using other VOIP service (like Vonage) see the same thing? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Your review of packet8.net appears next in this issue of the Digest. Vonage also charges F.E.T. on phone calls through them, along with a 'regulatory recovery fee'. The only ones who do not charge it (Pulver/FWD comes to mind) are the ones that *theoetically* stay entirely away from the public telephone network. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> Subject: Packet8: A VOIP Review Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 09:42:14 -0600 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com With all the buzz about VOIP, I thought I would give one of the major players in the market a try. Packet8 (www.packet8.net) offers unlimited domestic US/Canada VOIP service for $19.99 a month, with no equipment charges, a one time $30 startup charge, 30 day trial period and no contract. International rates vary, but run between 2 and 3 cents per minute. All the usual goodies are also included: Voicemail, Conference Calling, Call Forwarding, 3 Way Calling and Caller ID. I signed up on their web site on a Sunday evening. Within seconds I had an account and was able to select an area code and city for my personal number. As with most VOIP services, the area code and city you select are completely unrelated to where you actually live. Since local/long distance outgoing calls are not billed, the decision in deciding what number to select is based on who will be calling you. Packet8 supports Local Number Portability, so theoretically, you could get you current number reassigned. On the following Friday, the Packet8 router arrived by DHL. I have to say I have never seen a piece of technology install any easier. I plugged an analog phone into the phone port of a small white box, connected it with a supplied Ethernet cable to a spare port on my router, powered it up and within seconds it had synched up and was providing dial tone. Dialing a code number provided previously by email activated the service. Packet8 suggests updating the router firmware as they have made some voice quality improvements and added features like Caller ID Name. This was easy enough to do by downloading the updater from the Packet8 web site and running it on a Windows PC on my home network. There was one small glitch: The updater scans your local net and is supposed to automatically identify the IP address of the VOIP router. For some reason updater could not find the VOIP router on my network, even though everything is on the same subnet. When I manually told it what address to use, the update completed with no further problem. I made a few test calls and had someone call me. I was very impressed with the voice quality. It's not quite wire quality, but better than most analog or digital cell service. There's just a hint of a metallic ring to the sound and a tiny bit of delay. Kind of similar to the original Sprint or SBS satellite long distance services, but not nearly the latency. They delay was most noticeable when I called a company voicemail system and was punching in various numbers. There was also a very tiny amount of echo. Test calls to a cell phone were slightly lower quality, as expected, given the multiple levels of compression and radio latencies involved. The Packet8 voicemail system works very well. You can use a generic greeting that announces the number called, or record your own personal greeting. When a message is left on the voicemail, an LED immediately lights up on the VOIP router. Depending on where you have installed the router, this may or may not be visible. One interesting feature of the voicemail is that you can forward voicemail messages to your email address. The messages are sent as .au attachments and are thus playable using Windows Media Player and other similar programs. This feature is not as useful as it could be though: The messages must be manually listened to and saved before they can be forwarded and they are only sent to the email address associated with the billing account. It would be much more useful if you could define another address for message forwarding and to be able to designate that messages get sent immediately, or if they weren't picked up within a certain amount of time. Configuration changes and call detail records are available on the Packet8 web site. I was impressed to see calls listed within seconds of their completion. The economics of VOIP come from replacing traditional phone service. I pay around $27 a month (including taxes & fees) for basic, single line residential service. I do not subscribe to any of the phone company add-ons like CallerID or Voicemail. I pay 3 cents/minute for long distance and rarely exceed $10 a month for that. Dropping from $37/month to $20/month is nice, but won't change my lifestyle. Many people are using their cell phones for long distance, so they won't see any savings there. Furthermore, people that get their broadband service using DSL (IIRC about half of the current broadband market) will not be able to drop their traditional phone service. Qwest is the only LEC offering "naked" DSL or DSL without voice service. That leaves the real market for VOIP to be cable modem users. While VOIP is here to stay, I'm not convinced that companies like Packet8 (or Vonage) will survive over the long term. Part of the savings comes from not being subject to most of the taxes and fees levied on wire and cell service. This will quickly change as the various governments start to feel the sting from not collecting funds they are used to. There's no reason that the cable companies couldn't offer VOIP directly for little or no extra charge with their broadband service and totally cut out the need for Packet8. At that point, the economics become much more compelling. I am curious about how calls are handled and where they drop off the internet on into the traditional voice net. A call I made to the UK was very clear and had little delay. Do all calls get converted by Packet8 at their San Jose, CA location, or are they carried around the world as TCP packets and converted locally? I'm also curious about the security and encryption (if any) of the internet portion of the call. Voice calls are reasonably secure, but could someone at an ISP listen in to an internet call? ------------------------ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well Clark, that's the government's beef right now; they want to be able to listen in on your VOIP calls and they are not allowed to. Thanks for sending in your good review of Packet8.net PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Eritrea Cellphone Curbs Put Democracy on Hold Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 16:15:41 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom By Emily Wax The Washington Post KEREN, Eritrea - The bowls of spaghetti were hot. The chrome-plated cappuccino maker hissed. Outside on porches, students and graying men in frayed three-piece suits sipped espressos from tiny white cups. Missing from the country's cafe culture is one major modern convenience: cellphones. And that's not something young Eritreans find charming or fair. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001910574_eritrea23.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: friedebach@yahoo.com (Eric Friedebach) Subject: Cell Phone Spending's Black Hole Date: 23 Apr 2004 13:21:22 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Aude Lagorce, 04.22.04, Forbes.com NEW YORK - What do teenagers and employees with corporate wireless accounts have in common? A propensity to tell their interlocutor, "Nah, don't worry, we can talk, I'm not paying for this." But while Mom and Dad often have calling plans that can limit the damage, companies are not always as proactive. This is becoming a serious problem. A study released last week by the Yankee Group found that U.S. enterprises now spend 25% of their total telecom budget on wireless services. Additionally 48% of large enterprises do not have a centrally managed corporate account, which makes it difficult for them to track and eventually try to curb usage. How did it all come to this point? According to Yankee Group analyst Keith Mallinson, the problems stem largely from the way companies first used cell phones -- as a perk reserved for a few top-level executives. But as costs fell, lower- level employees began selecting handsets and plans by themselves and then expensing it -- and their employers, for the most part, didn't balk. http://www.forbes.com/networks/2004/04/22/cx_al_0422wireless.html Eric Friedebach /I don't come to where you work and rock the Slurpee machine/ ------------------------------ From: drthomaspopple@hotmail.com (Thomas Popple) Subject: Next Treo 600? Date: 23 Apr 2004 13:30:11 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I'm looking to buy a Treo 600 but someone told me today that I should hold fire a little longer as a new Treo is coming out shortly. Can anyone give me any details or links to info about the new model? Thanks. ------------------------------ From: Diamond Dave Subject: 'Old Style' Telephone Call Recording Device Organization: The BBS Corner / Diamond Mine On-Line Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 17:39:16 -0400 I'm looking for what I call an 'old style' recording device. I'm looking for a 'ring' that you can place over the receiver of a phone (the round 'G' style). I used to have one many many years ago (30+) but with several moves, it either got thrown out or got lost in one of many boxes. I don't like those suction cup ones (they never worked worth a darn) and this is for a phone where I can't connect to it with a modular phone jack for those in-line recording systems. If someone knows where I can buy those "ring" devices, please post a URL here. Thanks! Dave ------------------------------ From: Don Saklad Subject: How to Return a Lost Cellular Telephone Found on the Street Date: 23 Apr 2004 18:56:42 -0400 Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science How would you return a lost cellular telephone you found ?... Where would there be postage paid mailers provided for returning someone's lost cellular telephone you find on the street ? ... . wireless service companies ?... . manufacturers ?... . or ...? . ...? ------------------------------ From: jmayson@nyx.net Subject: Re: The GMail Saga Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 01:13:15 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com > Here's a summary of some of my conclusions > http://www.templetons.com/brad/gmail.html And here is a summary of my impressions of the service: http://home.austin.rr.com/jmayson/blog/archives/2004_04_22_archive.html John Mayson Austin, Texas, USA ------------------------------ 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. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #204 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Apr 24 16:15:53 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3OKFri13786; Sat, 24 Apr 2004 16:15:53 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 16:15:53 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404242015.i3OKFri13786@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 #205 TELECOM Digest Sat, 24 Apr 2004 15:15:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 205 Inside This Special Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: 19th Century Telegraphers (TELECOM Moderator) 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 are 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: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 13:00:00 From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Book Review: 19th Century Telegraphers For your casual reading this weekend, another in the series of Digest Archive reprints; this time on telegraphy in the 19th century. Based on the book by Gabler, Western Union archivist and historian, and written by Jim Haynes, this is one of a series of articles which appeared in the Digest about twelve years ago. More will follow on other weekends. The old email address and links are left intact as a historical curiosity, please do not use them to correspond with the writers. PAT Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 00:11:49 -0500 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: 19th Century Telegraphers (Book Review) Date: Thu, 15 Oct 00:10:00 GMT Reply-To: TELECOM Moderator Organization: TELECOM Digest I received this interesting book review in my mail today and thought it worthwhile sharing with TELECOM Digest readers. PAT From: haynes@cats.UCSC.EDU (Jim Haynes) Date: Wed, 14 Oct 92 18:20:09 -0700 Subject: 19th Century Telegraphers (Book Review) Book Review The American Telegrapher: a social history 1860-1900 Edwin Gabler Rutgers University Press, 1988 ISBN 0-8135-1284-0 (hardbound), 0-8135-1285-9 (paperback) I seem to read a lot of books which are at the same time both interesting and tedious. This is one such book. Written by an academic historian for reading by other academic historians, it is long on footnotes, theories, and statistics and short on flesh-and-blood storytelling; yet there is enough of the latter to entertain the casual reader. Part I of this review is an attempt to convey the general message of the book. Part II is for fun: a selection of stories about the lives and times telegraphers a century ago. Part I There are five chapters: a history of the Great Strike of 1883 as an introduction to the world of the operators; a description of the telegraph industry and especially Western Union; a social portrait of the telegraphers; a study of women telegraphers; and a summary of the labor movement and politics of telegraphers. An epilogue compares the situation of telegraphers in the 1880s with that of the air traffic controllers a hundred years later. Telegraph and railroad companies following the Civil War represented an entirely new kind of business, one in which the company's assets are strung out for hundreds or thousands of miles with offices and employees sprinkled along the lines. There were other affinities between the two kinds of companies. Railroads used telegraphy to support their own operations. Railroad rights-of-way were ideal places to run telegraph lines, affording easy access for construction and maintenance at a time when there were few roads. Telegraph business was likely to be found in the same places the railroads served. In many small towns the railroad station served as the public telegraph office, as there was not enough telegraph business to support an office for telegraph alone. Some railroads such as B & O operated their own public telegraph businesses. (cf. Southern Pacific a century later getting into the communications business.) Other railroads had contract arrangements with the telegraph companies, principally Western Union, for use of rights of way, interconnection of circuits, and providing public telegraph service at the railroad stations. These new kinds of businesses needed a new kind of management. The military became their model. Many of the top managers were alumni of the Civil War military telegraph system. The companies had divisions, rule books, general orders and special orders, and chains of command. Management style was authoritarian. As is the case with some companies today, the telegraph and railroad companies then were headed by a mixture of people who knew the business and those who were primarily financial wizards. Telegraph operators represented the beginning of a new social class, the lower-middle-class white-collar employees of large corporations. Many were the children of farmers or of city blue-collar workers. A great many were of Irish lineage. For all of these telegraphy offered a step up the social ladder as well as an escape from hard physical labor and city slums or rural isolation. Telegraphy was an occupation open to women, although the majority of operators were male (and, like the women, young and unmarried). The national economy was fairly flat or even deflationary during the period 1860-1890. Western Union profits rose handsomely throughout the period. The operators did not share in this prosperity. For one thing, there was an oversupply of them. First-class operators, who could send and receive thirty to forty words per minute for hours on end, were assigned to press and market reporting circuits. They could command pay two to three times as great as that of the second-class operators who made up the bulk of the force. Many operators learned the craft by hanging around small railroad and telegraph offices; others worked their way up from messenger and clerk jobs in larger offices; still others were trained at a number of schools that sprang up around the country. Most of the latter seem to have been disreputable if not completely fraudulent, operating for profit and promising high pay and mobility to rural youth. They were the century-ago counterparts of the for-profit data processing schools of our own times, the kind that advertised on matchbook covers and turned out an oversupply of under-qualified graduates for high tuition fees. Another financial problem for the telegraphers resulted from their new social class. Telegraphers' pay was on a par with that of skilled blue-collar workers; but their living expenses were greater. With the move to suits and ties and shined shoes they felt a need to live in middle-class housing, eat middle-class meals, and partake of middle-class entertainments. A few of the operators' perceptions of mistreatment by the companies were more apparent than real. The 1840s through 1860s had been a period when telegraphy was just getting started. Job opportunities were abundant and promotions were rapid. As the industry matured there were fewer spectacular success stories; telegraphy even seemed to be a dead-end job. Other complaints had a more solid foundation. Mergers of telegraph companies eliminated jobs. An economic downturn in the 1870s caused Western Union to institute across-the-board salary reductions, which were partially offset by monetary deflation. Operators tended to move around a lot, which allowed the company to hire cheaper replacements for those who left. The first attempt of telegraph workers to organize was the National Telegraphic Union of 1863. This was more of a mutual benefit society than a labor union. It provided members with sickness and funeral benefits and aimed to elevate the character of the members and promote just and harmonious relations with employers. With conditions for telegraphers growing worse after the Civil War the Telegraphers' Protective League was formed in 1868 as a very different kind of organization. It was a secret organization, because there was nothing at the time to protect its members from the unbridled power of their employers. Rather than relieving the sick and burying the dead it proposed to raise the members to a financial position in which they could take care of themselves. The TPL felt strong enough by January, 1870 to risk a strike against Western Union. It failed after about a week. There were just too many operators seeking work, especially in the winter season; the company was too strong; and the union was too poorly organized. The operators' situation continued to deteriorate through the 1870s as Western Union reduced wages, the number of would-be operators increased, and the company absorbed its competitors. An attempt to form another union in 1872 fizzled. In 1881 Jay Gould took over Western Union, moving the company closer to being a true national monopoly. By the summer of 1882 a number of regional labor organizations put aside their differences to form the Brotherhood of Telegraphers of the United States and Canada under the aegis of the Knights of Labor. The Brotherhood, unlike its predecessors, accepted the female operators as members. In July, 1883 the Brotherhood presented a list of grievances to Western Union and some other firms, hoping for at least a compromise settlement and at worst a short strike. When the company made no meaningful concessions the telegraphers walked out on July 19. At first things looked good for the Brotherhood. About three fourths of Western Union operators honored the strike. Public opinion was much on the side of the telegraphers, at least to the extent that it was against the side of Jay Gould and the W.U. monopoly. One competing telegraph company settled quickly with the union; and another (B & O) came close to, but never close enough. Union leaders worked hard to keep the public on their side, urging the strikers to be models of dignity and sobriety. The women were as valiant as the men, if not more so, in upholding the strike. Still, public sympathy did not feed the hungry; and the strike dwindled until it was officially called off August 17. Operators wishing to return to work had to sign a pledge of loyalty; those considered militant unionists were blacklisted by the company. Still, it appears the company was somewhat humbled by the power of the union and made a few concessions to the operators. Failure of the strike led to some ill feeling in the larger labor movement. The telegraphers accused the Knights of insufficient support; the Knights leadership felt the telegraphers had acted impulsively and without sufficient preparation. The Brotherhood soon withdrew from the Knights; and union activity reverted to local groups. Yet by 1885 there was a new organization, the Telegraphers' Union of America, which rejoined the Knights in 1886. This seems to have faded away by the early 1890s along with the Knights. Railroad telegraphers formed the Order of Railway Telegraphers in 1886. An Order of Commercial Telegraphers was formed in 1890 but never amounted to much, and allied itself with the railway telegraphers in 1897-98. The next attempt to form a union didn't happen until 1907, with the Commercial Telegraphers' Union of America, which also suffered disaster in a strike against Western Union. Gabler concludes with a discussion of a number of labor and political issues affecting telegraphers. One of the Brotherhood's demands had been equal pay for equal work, male and female. This seems to have been widely hailed as the Right Thing to do. I wonder whether the male telegraphers supported the demand because it was right; or if they supported it because they knew if the companies had to pay men and women the same they would hire only men. Some wanted a craft union, with membership limited to telegraphers, with an apprenticeship program that would raise the quality of operators while reducing their numbers. There was some interest in government licensing of operators. Others favored an industrial union, open to all Western Union employees. Some objected to the secret fraternal rites that were a feature of the Knights of Labor; Catholic workers were forbidden to become members of secret organizations of any kind. The operators wanted to protect their new middle-class image by being models of respectability and sobriety; some of the linemen on the other hand had no scruples about cutting wires to increase pressure on the companies during a strike. Some felt that telegraphy should be a government monopoly, as was and still is the norm in Europe. Some saw salvation in a worker-owned cooperative, if they could only convince the banks or the government to put up the money necessary to establish the system. Others sought to improve the status of the working classes through political action; quite a number were attracted to the United Labor Party of Henry George. A hundred years later issues like these are still with us. Part II Dr. Gabler had access to a vast amount of material: census records, archives of the telegraph companies, contemporary newspaper accounts, magazines published for the edification and amusement of operators, and even novels in which telegraphers were used as characters. The footnotes and bibliography take up 48 pages. One page in the book is an illustration of advertisements in a telegraphers' magazine of 1883. They include a book on shorthand, a book of money-making secrets, a book on the mysteries of love-making, a book on fortune telling, watch charms with microscopic pictures, a book of advice to the unmarried, a package of stationery, a book on politeness, a book of letters for all occasions, playing cards with marked backs, a book of magic tricks, a book on business, and a book on ballroom dancing. The theme is that these appealed to working-class young adults who felt a need to learn how to behave properly as members of the middle-class. A number of telegraph operators rose to prominence. Thomas Edison and Andrew Carnegie are the best known; Theodore N. Vail was a founder of AT&T; others found success in business or politics; and almost all the upper management of Western Union was drawn from the ranks of operators. In 1885 there were five doctors and one dentist moonlighting as telegraph operators -- maybe medicine and dentistry didn't pay all that well in those days. Thomas Edison, as a young telegrapher in the 1860s, would work a full day and then stay in the office at night, listening to a press circuit to get high speed code practice. Later he worked the Boston end of a New York circuit with an operator named Jerry Borst. Operators formed friendships with their counterparts at the other end of the wires. The telegraph companies insisted that operators should work at whatever circuits they were assigned. Edison and Borst conspired to change three characters of the code, so that nobody else could copy their transmissions and they could always work together. Cockroaches were such a problem in the office that Edison devised a bug zapper to protect his lunch from the little beasties. Friendships over the wires were nourished during lulls in traffic by exchanges of jokes and local news, and by checker games. Sometimes love and courtship blossomed too. At other times operators were rude to one another. On one occasion two operators got so angry at each other that they arranged to meet at a town halfway between their posts and settle the matter with fists at 1:00 AM. "Salting" (sending too fast for the receiving operator) was a frequent source of irritation. Salting was also part of the common practice of hazing new operators. Operators frequently got privileges, such as free passes to theaters and on trains. With the chronic oversupply it was common for operators to travel back and forth across the country looking for work, or for better conditions. Operators didn't get vacations, paid or otherwise; but in the summer months telegraph offices would open in the resort towns where the rich took their vacations, and operators could find work there. In 1883 Western Union employed 444 telegraphers in New York City, 96 in Boston, 88 in St. Louis, and 83 in Chicago. This seems to support a conjecture of mine that W.U. was weakened all its life by overattention to serving New York City and insufficient effort to develop the business in other parts of the country. There was friction between the city operators and the rural operators. The city operators were proud of their skills, and wanted to move the traffic. They resented they way country operators would frequently interrupt transmissions. The country operators, usually working in railroad depots, countered that telegraphy was but a small part of their duties. They had to answer questions from the public, sell tickets, meet trains, tend switches and signals, handle freight, and keep the lamps burning. They commonly worked shifts as long as twelve or even sixteen hours. Development of duplex and then quadruplex operation greatly increased the pressure on operators, as the receiving operators could not interrupt the senders. Gender stereotyping held that only male operators had the stamina to handle these heavily-loaded circuits; yet the book cites a number of examples of women who worked these circuits. Women were consistently paid less than men. The companies were well aware that women were a bargain compared with men, and continually tried to replace men with women. Nellie Welch had full charge of the telegraph office in Point Arena, California in 1886. She was eleven years old. Western Union and the Cooper Union Institute in 1869 jointly started a free eight-month telegraphy course for women. It lasted through the early 1890s, turning out about 80 graduates a year. They would first take non-paying jobs assisting regular operators, and then be hired as operators on lightly loaded city circuits. This school was much despised by men for its contribution to the oversupply problem, thought it probably hurt the opportunities for women more than those for men. Beginner and less-skilled operators were called "plugs" or "hams." (Note the endless controversy over the origin of the term "ham" for amateur radio operators.) The schools that turned out these operators were called "plug factories." Craft magazines sought to shame operators who taught telegraphy. They were urged to pass on the secrets of Morse only to brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters. At least one railroad operator quit his job rather than cooperate with a student placed with him by the company. ---------------- [Moderator's (10-1992) Note: My thanks for this very interesting article. Digest readers are encouraged to send book reviews and other special articles like this to Telecom for distribution on the net. PAT] ======================================================== [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We will have more history of Western Union Telegraph Company on weekends to come. Speaking of Nellie Welch above, not only did she function as the telegraph agent in Port Arena in 1886, she also functioned as the stage coach ticket agent. In most communities in those days, and even now as appropriate, '24/7 businesses' (places which by their nature operated around the clock and were labor-intensive) tended to be in one location so the overnight employee could be shared among them. That's why you saw so many telegraph agents also selling bus or train tickets or running phone switchboards in those years. All the jobs done by one person -- even if that person still sat around idle most of the night -- meant that the agent/owner of the estab- lishment was able to scoop up whatever money there was to be had. Like (present day) Greyhound Bus, the Western Union Telegraph Company never spent money it did not need to. Profitable locations such as Chicago, New York, Boston, etc had people 'on the payroll' (since they could afford it) even if overnight hours were a bit thin on a financial basis. Those were (for Western Union and today for Greyhound Bus) considered 'corporate' locations with the usual array of corporate rules and regulations. Less profitable locations such as smaller towns, where the corporation would have gone bankrupt operating them 24/7 were handled as 'agency offices'. That is, the person who operated them was an 'agent' and was paid a commission on the money collected on messages sent out (or bus tickets sold, etc). The 'agent' hired his own employees (if any), generally followed the corporate rules if he absolutely had to, and was responsible for remitting proceeds from the telegraph messages and stage coach ticket sales (later, bus tickets). Other than that, the agent was free to do as he pleased. The telegraph agent soon discovered that if he added stage coach tickets to his 'product line' he could make money from that as well, even though it was a different kind of thing. Two different telegraph companies in town? Western Union and Postal Telegraph? That's fine! Two or three different stage coach companies coming through town? Even better! The agent would sell tickets for all of them. The woman who ran the local telephone switchboard wanted to be able to sleep all night? (Remember, these were the very early days of telephony) ... cool ... the Agent had some kid (like Nellie Welch, mentioned above), who was up all night with stage coach tickets and telegram messages. Have the kid run the switchboard as well. Child labor laws these days would prevent that sort of thing now, an 11 year old kid working all night (or any time after curfew) but those laws did not exist in those early days. My great-grandfather, Thomas Townsend was a stage coach driver as a young man. He married an older woman who was a widow who ran a 'way station' as they were called (combination telegraph agency / stage coach stop) about a hundred miles outside of Tulsa, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), in the boondocks. His wife ran a lunchroom as well, since the stage coaches would stop there to allow the passengers to eat a meal or send/receive telegrams. Since horses were considered very valuable property and could only go at most for a hundred or two hundred miles on a trip, when the stage coach pulled in each day and the passengers and the driver went inside to eat their dinner, g.g.father Thomas would unfasten the team of horses, lead them into the stable where they would eat and rest, then he would take a different, fresh team of (well-rested, fed) horses out to the street and harness them up so the stage coach could continue its trip once the driver and passengers were finished with *their* dinners. Mostly his wife did the telegraph stuff and stage coach ticket stuff in addition to her lunchroom duties. That's how he met the woman he married, I believe; she was one-quarter Cherokee (of Oklahoma) Indian. More about Western Union ancient times in a week or so. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #205 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Apr 24 20:32:55 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3P0Wtc16441; Sat, 24 Apr 2004 20:32:55 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 20:32:55 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404250032.i3P0Wtc16441@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 #206 TELECOM Digest Sat, 24 Apr 2004 20:33:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 206 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: How to Return a Lost Cellular Phone Found on Street (H. Leighton) Re: How to Return a Lost Cellular Phone Found on Street (Joseph) Re: How to Return a Lost Cellular Phone Found on Street (Clarence Dold) Re: Taxes on VOIP Service? (John Levine) Re: Packet8: A VOIP Review (John Levine) Re: 'Old Style' Telephone Call Recording Device (Rich Greenberg) Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 (Henry E Schaffer) Re: Next Treo 600? (Joseph) Re: The GMail Saga (Clarence Dold) Friedman: Losing Our Edge? (Monty Solomon) Job Opportunity: Programmers Wanted in India (koshy112003) Bad Storm Overnight Causes Vonage to go Out (TELECOM Digest Editor) 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 are 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: hudsonl@skypoint.com (Hudson Leighton) Subject: Re: How to Return a Lost Cellular Telephone Found on the Street Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 12:27:25 -0500 Organization: MRRP In article , Don Saklad wrote: > How would you return a lost cellular telephone you found ?... > Where would there be postage paid mailers provided for returning > someone's lost cellular telephone you find on the street ? ... > . wireless service companies ?... > . manufacturers ?... > . or ...? > . ...? I have found phones, and have been able to find a phonebook entry for "Home" or "Office", called it and informed the person or machine that answered that I had their phone. The owners usually came over and got their phones. -Hudson http://www.skypoint.com/~hudsonl ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: How to Return a Lost Cellular Telephone Found on the Street Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 13:29:18 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom On 23 Apr 2004 18:56:42 -0400, Don Saklad wrote: > How would you return a lost cellular telephone you found ?... > Where would there be postage paid mailers provided for returning > someone's lost cellular telephone you find on the street ? ... I can think of a couple right offhand. The first thing I'd do is call the phone's carrier. Usually dialing 611 or *611 in the US would usually give you the phone's customer service for that carrier. If the phone has the carrier name stamped on it you could take it to a corporate store and turn in the phone there. You could also turn it into the police. When I was in Amsterdam my phone slipped out of the case and someone turned it in and I was able to claim it from a police station once I identified the phone and proved that it was mine. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: dold@HowXtoXRet.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: How to Return a Lost Cellular Telephone Found on the Street Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 20:56:45 UTC Organization: a2i network Don Saklad wrote: > How would you return a lost cellular telephone you found ?... If it's been lost more than a day, it's probably shut off, and a new one acquired. From that phone, you could dial 611 and ask. Or maybe look for stored phone number called "home". Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ Date: 24 Apr 2004 19:04:49 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Taxes on VOIP Service? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > One thing that puzzles me though: Although the bill is refreshingly > free of all the usual taxes, surcharges and fees found on land and > cell bills, Packet8 does charge a 3% Spanish American War Luxury Tax > (Federal Excise Tax) on the monthly subscription fee. > It's not clear to me why they should be doing this. Because it's phone service, of course. All VoIP carriers charge it. > I pay that tax on the DSL line already. I also pay it on the > underlying voice telephone line. Why should it apply to what is > essentially a data applications service? Because it's phone service, of course. It has a phone number, you can call people on the rest of the PSTN, people can call you from the rest of the PSTN, that makes it a phone. You could make an argument that it's unfair to charge FET on DSL when cable modems and point-to-point T1s aren't, but that's a separate issue. VoIP fans make a big deal about the fact that the calls are delivered over a separately billed IP connection. That should be no more relevant than whether my POTS phone line is analog all the way to the CO or is concentrated into a digital T1 or fiber on the way. The bits on a T1 are just as digital as the bits on any Internet connection, and it would be equally inane to argue that they make the phone calls they carry somehow not phone service. The real question is why, other than preferring that other people pay taxes instead of you, anyone should think that a VoIP phone should pay different taxes from other phones. Regards, John Levine johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, Mayor "A book is a sneeze." - E.B. White, on the writing of Charlotte's Web John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 330 5711 johnl@iecc.com, Mayor, http://johnlevine.com, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ Date: 24 Apr 2004 19:16:04 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Packet8: A VOIP Review Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA Nice review. > Packet8 supports Local Number Portability, so theoretically, you > could get you current number reassigned. Are you sure? I didn't see anything about it on their web site, and I know they didn't in the past. As far as I know, Vonage is the only one that does LNP. > While VOIP is here to stay, I'm not convinced that companies like > Packet8 (or Vonage) will survive over the long term. Part of the > savings comes from not being subject to most of the taxes and fees > levied on wire and cell service. This will quickly change as the > various governments start to feel the sting from not collecting funds > they are used to. Indeed. Of course, if VoIP can't survive without tax subsidies when it already gets a huge subsidy by piggybacking on a sepately priced IP connection, who needs it? > There's no reason that the cable companies couldn't offer VOIP > directly for little or no extra charge with their broadband service > and totally cut out the need for Packet8. At that point, the economics > become much more compelling. Cable companies typically provide high quality phone service with dedicated bandwidth, backup power, and real 911, rather than the lower quality service that Packet8, Vonage, and other pure VoIP providers do. But they still have no trouble bundling in unlimited long distance and pricing it lower than the phone company. > I am curious about how calls are handled and where they drop off the > internet on into the traditional voice net. A call I made to the UK > was very clear and had little delay. Do all calls get converted by > Packet8 at their San Jose, CA location, or are they carried around the > world as TCP packets and converted locally? When I've sniffed the packets on my Vonage connection, I've noted that all the outgoing calls go to headquarters, and the incoming calls come from the phone switch in Syracuse where my phone number is assigned. As far as I can tell, all VoIP providers do something like that. Wholesale long distance rates have gotten so cheap that I doubt there's any point to trying to do outgoing IP telephony in other countries, and those other countries are usually less tolerant of VoIP rate arbitrage games than the US is, so it couuld get politically messy. John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 330 5711 johnl@iecc.com, Mayor, http://johnlevine.com, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: 'Old Style' Telephone Call Recording Device Date: 24 Apr 2004 15:15:57 -0400 Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Diamond Dave wrote: > I'm looking for what I call an 'old style' recording device. > I'm looking for a 'ring' that you can place over the receiver of a > phone (the round 'G' style). I used to have one many many years ago > (30+) but with several moves, it either got thrown out or got lost in > one of many boxes. [...] > If someone knows where I can buy those "ring" devices, please post a > URL here. No idea about the ring; another type I have seen and used is a pickup that is approximately 1x4x.25 that you put under the phone and it inductivly couples to the coil in the phone. I am guessing that Rat Shack would have it (but haven't looked). I probably have one in my junk box. Rich Greenberg Work: Rich.Greenberg atsign worldspan.com + 1 770 563 6656 N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA Play: richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val(Chinook, Red & Shasta(Husky,(RIP),Red, husky)) Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ------------------------------ From: hes@unity.ncsu.edu (Henry E Schaffer) Subject: Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 19:45:57 +0000 (UTC) Organization: North Carolina State University In article , wrote: > Tony P. wrote: >> The other thing to keep in mind about CRT based televisions is that >> over a period of about 5 years they're pretty much shot nowadays. I >> can already see my 5 year old set redding out. But then it gets heavy >> usage. > Yougottabekidding. > My primary TV is a 1993 32" RCA CRT that still looks as good as it > ever did. ... I'm with Clarence. We are considering replacing our 1987 Sears 27" (something around that size) -- and one of our delays is trying to decide on what aspect ratio we want or need (4:3 or 16:9). (That's another thing which may change in the few years.) --henry schaffer hes _AT_ ncsu _DOT_ edu ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Next Treo 600? Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 13:23:18 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom On 23 Apr 2004 13:30:11 -0700, drthomaspopple@hotmail.com (Thomas Popple) wrote: > I'm looking to buy a Treo 600 but someone told me today that I should > hold fire a little longer as a new Treo is coming out shortly. > Can anyone give me any details or links to info about the new model? If it is the information's secret. AFAIKS the latest Treo is the model 600 for CDMA (Sprint) or quad band GSM (T-Mobile, cingular, AT&T and others.) handspring.com doesn't have anything and neither does phonescoop If Phonescoop doesn't have it the likelihood of any significant new Treo introduction is doubtful seeing as how Phonescoop usually gets new model information well in advance of any carrier offerring a particular model. remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: dold@TheXGMailX.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: The GMail Saga Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 20:55:19 +0000 (UTC) Organization: a2i network jmayson@nyx.net wrote: >> Here's a summary of some of my conclusions >> http://www.templetons.com/brad/gmail.html > And here is a summary of my impressions of the service: > http://home.austin.rr.com/jmayson/blog/archives/2004_04_22_archive.html I enjoyed Brad's article. Especially exposing the pieces I don't think about. I have Google email. I don't click on the adsense ads in GMail or in standard Google searches because they cost those folks money. They hope to make some money when I click through and buy something, but I feel guilty clicking on one when I know I'm probably not going to buy based on that link. The idea that those clicks could be tied back to a particular set of keywords is not far fetched. I presume that most adsense buyers don't do it, but only because it is inconvenient to keep track, which certainly wouldn't be true of a targeted government operation. John's comment about lack of signature caught me off guard. I hadn't even noticed. I wonder which of John's comments have been forwarded to the suggestion team at GMail? It isn't a public service yet. It is only open by invitation, and each Google employee is limited in their number of invitations. The bugs that I've noted have been fixed almost immediately. The suggestions that haven't been implemented have been answered with personalized explanations. Oddly, the bug fixes are sometimes not acknowledged, just fixed. There are cool features. One of them is that external images are not loaded while reading an html message. At first this looks odd, and seems only of interest to dialup users. But as Brad points out, there are people watching the IP addresses. One way to verify valid email addresses is to send email with an http link back to your site. You can see that a particular IP fetched the object [ as a result of reading the email ]. If you want the external images, it is a click at the top of the email. I use GMail. I won't do the personal things there that I might do on my home email, because I consider mail storage with a million users a much more attractive safe to crack than my home PC. I'll just hide over here, thanks. But for general chatting about the weather, and transferring large files, it's a pretty cool deal. Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 18:46:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Friedman: Losing Our Edge? OP-ED COLUMNIST By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN I was just out in Silicon Valley, checking in with high-tech entrepreneurs about the state of their business. I wouldn't say they were universally gloomy, but I did detect something I hadn't detected before: a real undertow of concern that America is losing its competitive edge vis-a-vis China, India, Japan and other Asian tigers, and that the Bush team is deaf, dumb and blind to this situation. Several executives explained to me that they were opening new plants in Asia -- not because of cheaper labor. Labor is a small component now in an automated high-tech manufacturing plant. It is because governments in these countries are so eager for employment and the transfer of technology to their young populations that they are offering huge tax holidays for U.S. manufacturers who will set up shop. Because most of these countries also offer some form of national health insurance, U.S. companies shed that huge open liability as well. Other executives complained bitterly that the Department of Homeland Security is making it so hard for legitimate foreigners to get visas to study or work in America that many have given up the age-old dream of coming here. Instead, they are studying in England and other Western European nations, and even China. This is leading to a twofold disaster. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/22/opinion/22FRIE.html ------------------------------ From: koshy112003 Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 07:56:42 -0000 Subject: Job Opportunity: Telecom Professionals Wanted in India Reply-To: telecom-news@yahoogroups.com A German telecom software development company is looking out for telecom professionals within Bangalore. Experience: 1-4years Good knowledge in C,C++/Linux,Unix Experience in telecom related domains ( SIP,H.323,MGCP) will be preferred. Contact details: kkv.teles@touchtelindia.net ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Bad Weather Storm; Vonage Goes Out Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 18:30:00 CDT Friday night here in Independence, we had the mother of all rain and hail storms, replete with lightning, thunder, strong winds and then some. Three inches of rain in an hour or two, it flooded the Verdigris River (which was near its high point already) over by the water works and sewer disposal place at Second Street by Oak Street. Police put up barricades on Second Street to keep people away as the water came rolling down the street. No matter for me; I live at the *south end* of Second Street near East Poplar Street; I did not see the water until later on a battery-powered television set with Tulsa area news and it was shown. Battery-powered? Well yeah, even though I am less than six blocks from the Independence electric power plant at Maple and Cement Streets (eastern city limits) my electric power went out for several hours as well -- along with 27 other people here in town according to the service rep manning the customer service line I spoke with. Well, she said, it really did a 'number' on Independence and a lot of Montgomery County; we are restoring things as fast as we can, but no estimates right now on time. That was around 8 PM; power was restored at 2 AM Saturday morning, about six hours later. I talked to them at around 10 PM when I saw lights working down the block (a different transformer and cable I guess) and sort of went in a panic because mine were still out, plus the house next door and across the street, although I could see other places that were on. I was talking on my Vonage phone to a friend in Canada when I saw a *huge* flash of lightning and mentioned it my friend. A second or two later, a loud bang and the lights went out. Battery kept the laptop computers going long enough for an orderly shut down but Vonage went out also. My questions are: since battery will keep computers going temporarily, and assuming one's cable line/or phone and DSL line was working, I am wondering if one could not run a battery to the Motorola MTA and the router and keep your Vonage on line even when the computers otherwise are shut down? I made do with my cellular phone overnight so it was not all that critical. All the taverns in town said business was very poor last night also. PAT ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #206 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Apr 25 00:53:22 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3P4rM618118; Sun, 25 Apr 2004 00:53:22 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 00:53:22 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404250453.i3P4rM618118@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 #207 TELECOM Digest Sun, 25 Apr 2004 00:52:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 207 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Google Flirts; Investors Wonder About Date (Monty Solomon) The Bullying Pulpit (Monty Solomon) TV on Steroids (Monty Solomon) 'Crazy Like a Fox': From Start-Up to Upstart (Monty Solomon) Out-Foxed / How Rupert's Red-State Cable Channel Waved Flag (M Solomon) Google and Akamai: Cult of Secrecy vs. Kingdom of Openness (M Solomon) Oh, Yeah, He Also Sells Computers (Monty Solomon) Re: Bad Weather Storm; Vonage Goes Out (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Bad Weather Storm; Vonage Goes Out (Stanley Cline) Re: Taxes on VOIP Service? (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) Re: Packet8: A VOIP Review (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) Re: Packet8: A VOIP Review (Stanley Cline) Re: Honesty from Earthlink (Edson C. Hendricks) Re: How to Return a Lost Cellular Phone Found on Street (Mike Koerner) Re: How to Return a Lost Cellular Phone Found on street (Stanley Cline) Re: 'Old Style' Telephone Call Recording Device (Diamond Dave) Re: Book Review: 19th Century Telegraphers (Lisa Hancock) 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 are 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: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 19:03:21 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Google Flirts; Investors Wonder About Date By JOHN MARKOFF SAN FRANCISCO, April 23 - Google, the Web search company that has developed a huge following around the world, is expected to take a tentative first step next week toward a public stock offering, a person close to the company said Friday. But it is likely to stop short of filing a formal registration to sell shares, the person said. In recent days speculation on Wall Street and Silicon Valley has reached a fever pitch over Google's long-awaited offering, which has become the most highly anticipated event in the technology world here since the dot-com boom collapsed in early 2000. But Google, which prides itself on its quirky and secretive corporate culture, appears prepared to drag out any public offering as long as possible. Google is being driven to disclose basic financial details of its operations next week by an obscure provision of securities law. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/24/technology/24google.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 19:27:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Bullying Pulpit By Art Brodsky, TomPaine.com In the first quarter of the year, about 100,000 people each month decided they were fed up with what broadcast radio stations were feeding them. They were fed up with the same songs played dozens of times a day, fed up with car dealers screaming at them in commercials. So, these people signed up for XM Radio, a pay-radio service broadcast by satellite. This year, XM added something new to its more than 100 channels of music and talk-local traffic and weather information. That new development was too much for the powerful broadcasting lobby, which sees the local market, and local ad revenue, as its own. Rather than recognize a weakness in their programming and try to find a way to hang on to their listeners, the broadcasters instead went to their friends in Congress as part of a campaign that would restrict consumer choice. As a result, Rep. Charles "Chip" Pickering, R-Miss., and Rep. Gene Green, D-Tex., with little fanfare, introduced H.R. 4026, the Local Emergency Radio Service Preservation Act of 2004. It's the type of a bill that's unfortunately quite common, but illustrates one of the fundamental weaknesses of our economy that you won't hear discussed in the presidential campaign. There are some American industries that are just plain afraid to compete in the marketplace. For all of the talk in favor of "the free market" and doing what's best for consumers, this bill is the poster child for the ability of one industry to try to use Members of Congress to put the screws to a competitive industry. http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/10209 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 19:48:51 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TV on Steroids So Long to Analog Broadcasting and Hello to Digital, Which May Spell Good News for Viewers -- And Plenty of It BY NEIL HICKEY Columbia Journalism Review Since the dawn of television, almost six decades ago, every TV station in America has had the capacity to beam out just one program at a time -- Gunsmoke or The Huntley-Brinkley Report or Survivor or 60 Minutes. That was then; welcome to now: the Digital Era of broadcasting. The so-called analog, one-channel version of television will soon be as archaic as a 1950 Studebaker. Since the passage in 1996 of a new Telecommunications Act, all of the country's television stations are allowed to reach their viewers on as many as six channels -- simultaneously! Benefits for the public have been slow in coming, but suddenly "multicasting" -- that's the hot new word -- is on the lips of everybody in TV land. Take WRAL in Raleigh, North Carolina, for example, a pioneer in the new age of broadcasting. Last year, on one of its new digital outlets, a service called NewsChannel, the station aired live, full coverage of the murder trial of a well-known local figure accused, and eventually convicted, of killing his wife. It was a story of broad local interest, but one for which the station would not have preempted popular CBS shows on its lone analog channel. http://www.cjr.org/issues/2004/2/hickey-tv.asp ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 20:11:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: 'Crazy Like a Fox': From Start-Up to Upstart By DAVID CARR IN little more than seven years, Fox News set itself a place at the cable news table and then promptly upended it. All manner of convention -- presuming lack of bias, leaving the patriotism to the politicians and regarding institutions with suspicion -- has been battered by the runaway success of a news division that was initially received with up-the-sleeve snickering by its competitors, CNN and MSNBC. In 'Crazy Like a Fox: The Inside Story of How Fox News Beat CNN,' Scott Collins renders the fight for cable-news dominance as a schoolyard throw-down. CNN is the brainy scholar who oozes superiority, MSNBC is the new kid at school, endlessly trying to please, and then along comes Fox News, the loudmouth at the back of the class who trashes the rules everyone else lives by. By triangulating the story among the three competitors -- the book opens with the ''glitzy show'' announcing the formation of MSNBC -- Collins goes beyond transcribing the ticktock of events and infuses the story with drama. The book is breezy but avoids coming off as facile, skipping quickly across big stretches of history and landing hard on critical inflection points. ''Crazy Like a Fox'' is less about network tectonics and more about a hearts-and-minds battle for a new audience, one that sees the remote as a kind of voting machine to express disaffection with mainstream media and politics. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/18/books/review/18CARRLT.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 20:12:11 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Out-Foxed / How Rupert's Red-State Cable Channel Waved the Flag Out-Foxed How Rupert's red-state cable channel waved the flag and beat CNN. By Geraldine Sealey April 24, 2004 | Caution, you're about to enter a No Spin Zone. Or is it the Twilight Zone? We'll report, and you decide, based on this recent "unspun" news update from Fox News' flagship primetime program "The O'Reilly Factor." "Why are some Americans hindering the war on terror?" O'Reilly barked at the camera. "As we predicted, President Bush's poll numbers have gone up after last week's press conference. The elite media wanted Mr. Bush to grovel, but he remains defiant and determined to fight the terror war his way. Today the Supreme Court heard arguments that the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay should have lawyers and due process. Predictably, the New York Times wants lawyers for the accused terrorists, editorializing that some of them 'may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.' "Sure. They just took a wrong turn into Uzbekistan and wandered onto the battlefield. How ridiculous is that?" Remember, the Spin Stops Here. There was a time, not too long ago, when Fox News was a joke -- albeit a bad and sick one -- to liberals and TV journalists raised on Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley. But even those who rue the success of Rupert Murdoch's flag-waving cable channel have to admit: The old boy has done it. CNN founder Ted Turner once famously mocked Murdoch, saying he'd squish his cable news rival like a bug. We all know now who has squished whom. http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2004/04/24/fox/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 20:19:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Google and Akamai: Cult of Secrecy vs. Kingdom of Openness The king of search is tapping into what may be the largest grid of computers on the planet. And it remains extraordinarily secretive about its core technologies -- perhaps because it senses a potential competitor in dotcom era flameout Akamai. By Simson Garfinkel April 21, 2004 http://www.techreview.com/articles/wo_garfinkel042104.asp ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 22:47:02 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Oh, Yeah, He Also Sells Computers By JOHN MARKOFF April 25, 2004 Cupertino, Calif. STROLL the corridors and the atriums on Apple Computer's corporate campus these days and you will notice that something is missing. Gone are the posters and graphics accenting the company's sleek personal computers. In their place, in the main lobby, is a striking, three-story-high billboard celebrating Steven P. Jobs's brand-new billion-dollar consumer electronics business -- the iPod digital MP3 music player. In just two and a half years, Mr. Jobs, Apple's chief executive, has managed to take a well-designed hand-held gadget, add software connecting it to Macintoshes and Windows-based personal computers and convince the recording industry that he has found an elegant solution for ending its nightmare of digital piracy. In doing so, he has shifted the emphasis of Apple from what made it famous -- hip, even lovable computers -- to what he hopes will keep it relevant and profitable in the future: products for a digital way of life. In fact, the wild success that Mr. Jobs has enjoyed with the iPod may have come in the nick of time. For all the acknowledged design and ease-of-use advantages of the Macintosh, Apple's overall PC business is still growing more slowly than that of its Microsoft- and Intel-based competitors. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/25/business/yourmoney/25jobs.html ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 20:56:24 EDT Subject: Re: Bad Weather Storm; Vonage Goes Out In a message dated 4/24/04 7:36:19 PM Central Daylight Time, editor@telecom-digest.org writes: > I did not see the water until later on a battery-powered television > set with Tulsa area news and it was shown. Battery-powered? Well > yeah, even though I am less than six blocks from the Independence > electric power plant at Maple and Cement Streets (eastern city > limits) my electric power went out for several hours as well -- > along with 27 other people here in town according to the service rep > manning the customer service line I spoke with. What else would you use than a battery-powered TV set when you're hiding in an interior closet or bathroom because all three TV channels are running nothing but the radar of the storms coming for you and the picture from their spotters in the field showing the funnel coming down and the hail hitting the ground (and cars and carports). Our yard in Oklahoma City -- and many others -- was covered with hail so it looked like snow. There were even hail stone drifts in the yard. Fortunately, from watching the battery-powered TV, we were able to see from the radar and the commentary when it was safe to come out. At one time, before going into shelter, I had the battery-powered TV on one channel and the regular AC-powered TV on another channel. This was, I think, the same night as the storm hit Independence. Our power didn't go off, but it has a number of times in bad storms. Not our SBC phone service, however. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Our storm was yesterday (Friday) night. The hail seemed to jump around us however; Parsons, Kansas, up the road a short distance from us got a large amount of hail yesterday morning, then the hail skipped past us and went to Coffeyville which like us had rotten weather all day, but they also got hail. But the *real* storm was Friday night when water was running down the streets and particularly about 10 pm when the electric went out and the Verdigris River spilled over and dumped itself by the Water Works and the Sewage Treatment Plant at the north end of Second Street. No sign of any tornadoes lately however, but this is the time of year for them. I was hoping you might have answered my question however: assuming cable or phone/DSL is working (ours was) but the computer and electricity is off in a power situation, couldn't a standby battery be used to keep the Vonage phone, MTA box and router running so the Vonage would stay alive? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Stanley Cline Subject: Re: Bad Weather Storm; Vonage Goes Out Organization: Myself, in Dunwoody/Sandy Springs/Atlanta, GA, USA :) Reply-To: sc1-news@roamer1.org Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 04:01:05 GMT On Sat, 24 Apr 2004 18:30:00 CDT, TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > My questions are: since battery will keep computers going temporarily, > and assuming one's cable line/or phone and DSL line was working, I am > wondering if one could not run a battery to the Motorola MTA and the > router and keep your Vonage on line even when the computers otherwise > are shut down? I made do with my cellular phone overnight so it was Sure -- but if you maintain power to the MTA with a UPS, you need to also maintain power to any other device the MTA's IP traffic passes through (Ethernet hub or switch, DSL/cable modem, firewall, etc.) If you use Vonage with a Motorola MTA in their recommended configuration (between DSL/cable modem and firewall/switch) you only have to power the MTA and DSL/cable modem. In my case, my Sipura SPA for VoicePulse is behind a DSL modem, a Linux firewall, and an Ethernet switch, and to keep the phones going I have to keep power to all four devices (SPA, DSL modem, Ethernet switch, and firewall.) Believe it or not, I just bought a large (1500 VA) UPS *today* for those very devices (as well as a satellite multiswitch -- I'm geeky enough that I have my TiVos on UPS too!) for when I move in a new house next month. Stanley Cline -- sc1 at roamer1 dot org -- http://www.roamer1.org/ "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> Subject Re: Taxes on VOIP Service? Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 19:29:20 -0600 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com John Levine wrote: > The real question is why, other than preferring that other people pay > taxes instead of you, anyone should think that a VoIP phone should pay > different taxes from other phones. Well, personally, I don't think anyone should be paying a tax that was imposed on what was then a luxury to finance a war that has been over for over 100 years. That said, your note motivated me to see if I could find out a bit more about this tax. It's not a pretty picture ... The web site http://www.itaa.org/taxfinance/fedexctx.htm has a short history of the tax. Congress has promised to get rid of it almost a dozen times, but have backed out and raised the rates instead, and made it "permanent" about 14 years ago. The IRS http://www.irs.gov/publications/p510/ar02.html#d0e734 has a really broad definition on what it can cover - and who can claim an exemption. An interesting point: Those really cheap phone cards you buy would be even cheaper -- the tax is included on those. Which also means sales tax is being charged on a federal tax. Good news though! No tax is required for coin paid local calls. So, why should such a trivial little tax still survive? As with most things political -- follow the money. Excise taxes were intended to be temporary taxes designed to discourage the use of the product they were applied to. (Standard tax theory says that taxes should be set at a rate that does not discourage use of the product.) The revenue from excise taxes should be applied to counter the negative aspects of said product. For example: An excise tax on tires might be useful if rubber only came from a country that we did not care to support or were at war with and revenue from said tax was used to develop a synthetic or alternate substitute. Back to reality: According an IRS spreadsheet at http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/article/0,,id=96539,00.html for the year 2002, the federal government took in $67B (that's billion) in excise taxes from various sources. Some of the more interesting sources are: Automotive Luxury Tax $342M Fur Luxury Tax $1K Apparently, someone didn't get the word that the luxury tax on boats, aircraft, jewelry and furs was repealed in 1993. Gas Guzzler Tax $78M Highway Tire Tax $355M Gas Fuel Tax $21B (that's Billion) Diesel Fuel Tax $8B Telephone Tax $5.6B Air Travel Tax $6.9B So, at the top of the excise tax hit parade, coming in right behind motor fuel and air travel taxes, is our 100 year old temporary friend, the telephone service tax. Another interesting point -- the spreadsheet shows the total revenue generated from the telephone tax has been expanding tremendously over the past 8 years -- around $500M a year. This despite the fact that certain phone rates have dropped over that same time period. Presumably this comes from broadening the definition of what a telephone service is ... By the way -- the next time someone tries to argue that Amtrak should be getting a direct subsidy to level the playing field with all those public highways and interstates, you might point them to the $30 Billion every year that US taxpayers are paying for those roads. You might also ask why we aren't spending $30B a year on maintaining those roads, but that truely is a different subject. ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: Packet8: A VOIP Review Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 19:32:58 -0600 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com John Levine wrote: > Nice review. Thank you. >> Packet8 supports Local Number Portability, so theoretically, you >> could get you current number reassigned. > Are you sure? I didn't see anything about it on their web site, and I > know they didn't in the past. As far as I know, Vonage is the only > one that does LNP. You are correct -- my mistake. I saw the heading for LNP on their website and assumed it meant they supported it. When I went back and read the detail, they stated they do not. > When I've sniffed the packets on my Vonage connection, I've noted that > all the outgoing calls go to headquarters, and the incoming calls come > from the phone switch in Syracuse where my phone number is assigned. > As far as I can tell, all VoIP providers do something like that. An email response I received from Packet8 kind of implies this as well. ------------------------------ From: Stanley Cline Subject: Re: Packet8: A VOIP Review Organization: Myself, in Dunwoody/Sandy Springs/Atlanta, GA, USA :) Reply-To: sc1-news@roamer1.org Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 04:04:30 GMT On 24 Apr 2004 19:16:04 -0000, John Levine wrote: > Cable companies typically provide high quality phone service with > dedicated bandwidth, backup power, and real 911, rather than the lower > quality service that Packet8, Vonage, and other pure VoIP providers > do. But they still have no trouble bundling in unlimited long > distance and pricing it lower than the phone company. Here in Atlanta, Comcast's phone service (which I can't get at my current apartment, and may or may not be able to get at the house I'm moving into next month) is not much cheaper than BellSouth's. :( (Note that Comcast's phone service here in Atlanta, which is provided in conjunction with AT&T Local, is traditional circuit-switched service that runs over RF/coax, not a VoIP-based service like what Time Warner, Cox, and others are rolling out right now.) Stanley Cline -- sc1 at roamer1 dot org -- http://www.roamer1.org/ "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 18:48:15 -0700 From: Edson C. Hendricks Subject: Re: Honesty From Earthlink I'm not saying that Earthlink is deliberately not fixing any bug of theirs, nor even that I believe they actually have any such bug. My implication was meant to reflect my judgment that they are not telling the truth, whatever the truth may be. I believe at least that much can be reliably deduced from the exchange. Since you've raised the question, if I had to guess, it would be that there is no real bug involved, but instead it's all a deliberate policy on their part to send marketing material to people who've asked them not to send it, while pretending not to realize they're doing it. But that's just my guess, I definitely don't believe I know. ------------------------------ From: Michael G. Koerner Subject: Re: How to Return a Lost Cellular Telephone Found on the Street Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 20:57:10 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com dold@HowXtoXRet.usenet.us.com wrote: > Don Saklad wrote: >> How would you return a lost cellular telephone you found ?... > If it's been lost more than a day, it's probably shut off, and a new one > acquired. From that phone, you could dial 611 and ask. > Or maybe look for stored phone number called "home". > Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 When I got my current cell phone (a Motorola V60I) last year, the local agent advised me to place my name and another number where I could be contacted somewhere on the phone. Mine is on the inside of the battery cover. Regards, | |\ ____ | | | | |\ Michael G. Koerner May they | | | | | | rise again! Appleton, Wisconsin USA | | | | | | ______________________________________ | | | | | | _______________ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Sorry, Michael; I think your ascii-art in your signature got hosed by accident. On my cell phone I replaced the default greeting text 'Nokia' and my phone number with the phrase 'Stolen From Patrick Townson' and my home phone number. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Stanley Cline Subject: Re: How to Return a Lost Cellular Telephone Found on the Street Organization: Myself, in Dunwoody/Sandy Springs/Atlanta, GA, USA :) Reply-To: sc1-news@roamer1.org Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 03:55:21 GMT On 23 Apr 2004 18:56:42 -0400, Don Saklad wrote: > How would you return a lost cellular telephone you found ?... If there are numbers in the phone for "home" or something similar, try calling the phone's owner. If not, or if you don't want to try to contact the owner yourself, figure out what carrier it is active on (or was last active on) and contact that carrier and see what they'd like you to do. It's funny you mention it -- I got a rental car earlier this week (since my car is having some damage from falling tree limbs repaired) and I found someone's active Verizon Wireless cell phone under one of the seats. Since it didn't have any numbers stored in it, I talked to VZW customer service (I'm a VZW customer myself) and they told me to drop it by a local store, which I did. I also called the rental car company and told them I'd found a phone and gave a description of it, and told them I'd handed it over to VZW. The one time I misplaced a phone (in L.A., when the StarTAC I had at the time popped out of its holster while getting out of a car at a restaurant) a manager of the restaurant found it and called the entry listed as "Mom" in my phone; my mother called me at my L.A. office and told me to go back to the restaurant and get my phone! :) Stanley Cline -- sc1 at roamer1 dot org -- http://www.roamer1.org/ "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune ------------------------------ From: Diamond Dave Subject: Re: 'Old Style' Telephone Call Recording Device Organization: The BBS Corner / Diamond Mine On-Line Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 23:14:58 -0400 On 24 Apr 2004 15:15:57 -0400, richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) wrote: > No idea about the ring; another type I have seen and used is a pickup > that is approximately 1x4x.25 that you put under the phone and it > inductivly couples to the coil in the phone. > I am guessing that Rat Shack would have it (but haven't looked). I > probably have one in my junk box. Again, that is one of those "suction cup" ones that don't work worth a darn. I don't need another one of those, I own two already. Dave [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The suction cup things never work very well. Why don't you switch to a modular style phone then get one of the wired things which hooks directly into your computer sound card. Mike Sandman http://sandman.com has those in stock for cheap. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Book Review: 19th Century Telegraphers Date: 24 Apr 2004 20:13:52 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > For your casual reading this weekend, another in the series of Digest > Archive reprints; this time on telegraphy in the 19th century. Thank you for rerunning this report. Very interesting. I'd like to know more about Western Union from the postwar era (WW II) to the present. In the 1960s they had a microwave network, they even launched satellites, and they had government defense contracts to handle data networks. It would seem a natural for them to handle the growing computer data transmissions, but it all ended up to AT&T. The only WU history I have is "The Story of Telecommunications" by George Oslin. It is a starting point, but a weak one. Oslin somewhat glosses over some very critical issues. He blames the FCC for favoring AT&T at the expense of Western Union, poor management, labor troubles, and the forced wartime merger of Postal Telegraph, but does not get into adequate detail and the time periods are somewhat merged together. We know long distance phones rates declined after WW II. At some point the cost of a voice call became cheaper than sending a telegram; I wonder when that point was reached (my guess is the late 1950s). It's amazing how in old movies people contact home with urgent messages by telegram rather than voice long distance, but in the 1940s long distance was still very expensive, especially for more distant calls. (I think short haul long distance was more affordable.) FWIW, WU says a telegram today costs $15 to send, it will be delivered by an express company. I _think_ a telegram still has more legal weight as an "official" message over a fax; kind of the equivalent of a certified letter where you need proof of sending and receipt of your message. I don't know how many people send telegrams today; their business is money transfers and other bill paying services. Note the original Western Union went bankrupt some years ago which was covered up by creating a parent corporation to file to keep their name clean. ------------------------------ 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. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management (MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35 credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including data, video, and voice networks. The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum. Classes are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning. Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at 405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at http://www.mstm.okstate.edu ************************ In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V23 #207 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Apr 25 17:46:45 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3PLkjX24184; Sun, 25 Apr 2004 17:46:45 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 17:46:45 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404252146.i3PLkjX24184@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 #208 TELECOM Digest Sun, 25 Apr 2004 17:46:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 208 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Google / Why World's Hottest Tech Company Will Struggle (Monty Solomon) Re: Bad Weather Storm; Vonage Goes Out (Linc Madison) Re: Bad Weather Storm; Vonage Goes Out (Tony P.) Re: Bad Weather Storm; Vonage Goes Out (Rich Greenberg) Seeking Telecom Site (Keith) Email Address Abuse (name withheld at request) Re: Book Review: 19th Century Telegraphers (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: How to Return Lost Cellular Phone Found on Street (Phil Earnhardt) Senate Mulls Internet Tax Ban (VOIP News) 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 are 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: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 01:08:22 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Google / Why World's Hottest Tech Company Will Struggle Why the world's hottest tech company will struggle to keep its edge http://businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_18/b3881001_mz001.htm Google's Goal: "Understand Everything" http://businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_18/b3881010_mz001.htm What Eric Schmidt Found at Google http://businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_18/b3881011_mz001.htm ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Bad Weather Storm; Vonage Goes Out Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 11:42:54 -0700 From: Linc Madison Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed In article , Clark W. Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> wrote: [discussing the federal excise tax on telephone services] > The IRS http://www.irs.gov/publications/p510/ar02.html#d0e734 has a > really broad definition on what it can cover - and who can claim an > exemption. An interesting point: Those really cheap phone cards you > buy would be even cheaper -- the tax is included on those. Which also > means sales tax is being charged on a federal tax. There's nothing the least bit unusual about that. All excise taxes are always included in the price on which sales tax is calculated. Show me any example where sales tax is computed with an *exemption* for the amount of the federal tax -- *that* would be noteworthy. > By the way -- the next time someone tries to argue that Amtrak should > be getting a direct subsidy to level the playing field with all those > public highways and interstates, you might point them to the $30 > Billion every year that US taxpayers are paying for those roads. Exactly the point -- the public highways and interstates are subsidized by the taxpayers, tilting the playing field. To *level* the playing field, we should subsidize rail travel, too. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Bad Weather Storm; Vonage Goes Out Organization: ATCC Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 19:28:10 GMT In article , Wesrock@aol.com says: > This was, I think, the same night as the storm hit Independence. > Our power didn't go off, but it has a number of times in bad storms. > Not our SBC phone service, however. It's always interesting that the phone service usually stays up and running while the electrical lines get torn to hell. And I've noticed in serious storms electric lines are always the first to go, but the phone lines, short of a pole coming down stay up. Looking at the BSP's I've got it seems that drops to homes and cabling in general is well secured. Electrical lines look like something a child put together. Perfect example -- around here the electrical wire to the buildings is underground on the main street of this neighborhood. But the way they did it was every other block or so, a transformer is up on a pole and the resultant wires are sub-ducted to fan out to the buildings. But get this, further down the street everything is underground, right to the point of the generation plant. It's ridiculous -- that's what happens when you've got an industry that wasn't as closely watched as Bell was. Now the big argument is who is going to pay for the burial of HV transmission lines that create an ugly scar across India Point in Providence. True estimated cost is $12 million, Narragansett Electric (National Grid, PLC) says it'll be $20 million because if they did that they want to build in several other conduits. The thing about this is that I know what their profit margins are. Narragansett is a transmission company only. They own the distribution network so it's pure gravy for them. Not much goes back into upgrading their wire plant. They can well afford to absorb the entire cost of the project but refuse to. The above is similar to how Brayton Point (A PG&E site) is flushing cooling water in Buzzards Bay which then flows into Narragansett Bay that's tens of degrees higher in temperature than the surrounding water. It has decimated stocks like winter flounder, etc. I worked with the Environmental Unit creating the presentation evidence for a trial - the profit they make is obscene. They could well afford to put up cooling towers and return the water to the bay at approximately the same temperature but they won't. It's still being fought. Interestingly one of the questions on the Political Compass test is "What's good for big business is good for everyone." You have to answer between Strongly Disagree or Strongly Agree with the statement. Can anyone guess what I selected? ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Bad Weather Storm; Vonage Goes Out Date: 25 Apr 2004 11:47:47 -0400 Organization: Organized? Me? In article , TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > My questions are: since battery will keep computers going temporarily, > and assuming one's cable line/or phone and DSL line was working, I am Sure, I do that. My DSL modem and router run off the UPS. > wondering if one could not run a battery to the Motorola MTA and the > router and keep your Vonage on line even when the computers otherwise > are shut down? I made do with my cellular phone overnight so it was I would assume that these draw little enough power that the UPS battery could carry them for a while. Wouldn't last forever tho. Rich Greenberg Work: Rich.Greenberg atsign worldspan.com + 1 770 563 6656 N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA Play: richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val(Chinook, Red & Shasta(Husky,(RIP),Red, husky)) Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ------------------------------ From: Keith Subject: Seeking Telecom Site Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 15:49:40 -0400 I'm looking for a telecom site I used to visit a few years ago. This particular one was run rather informally, admin might have been named Tom, and had a plethora of information regarding telecom, telephones, etc. It had a section on history, a telecom book review section which was pretty huge, might have had an old payphone section, etc. I'm thinking it was called telecom resources, telephone resources, or something to that effect. No luck on google. Any idea or am I just babbling? Thanks. Keith ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 23:15:39 -0700 From: Name and Email Address Withheld Subject: Email Address Abuse When I submitted a response to your BB three days ago, I used my MIT alumni email address, which is the return address on this note. That's been my MIT-related email address for a year or two, at least. You posted it, thank you, and I want to let you know that now, no more than three days later, I've received my first spam email message addressed to (withheld) I have ever received. They obviously work really fast these days. OK, fine, I've changed my MIT email address, and any mail addressed to (withheld) will now be trashed with no notice or reply of any kind, and I'll never see it. MIT has my new email address (also withheld) for use in MIT business. Please keep it to yourself, and don't post it. As soon as I receive any spam addressed to the new one, my MIT email address will change again to something even more obscure and secret. I hate spam. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So do all of us. And its no secret that the slimy characters who rip off email addresses find TELECOM Digest to be easy pickings since there are still a few of the regulars here who are willing to use their real names and email addresses (as I do). I refuse to make the **decent guys** here (most all) have to go through hoops to be able to correspond with each other on topics here. The default here has always been 'email addresses included, notify me to have your address withheld as needed.' But some day soon the default is going to change to 'no email addresses included, notify me if you *do* want your address as part of the message'. Just as you now are expected to add a line at the start of your message (or by pre- arrangment tell me) to withhold your address, or include that request somewhere in your message, you'll have to start telling me in each message if you **do** want your email address used. And it would be a good idea to begin grepping and extracting all the names and email addreeses you find here, index them and save them for your ease in responding directly and privatly to each other, since once I start eliminating all addresses by default, I do not intend to impose on myself by forwarding mail back and forth between you. And my sincere thanks to all the list-making spammers who are gradually pushing me in that direction. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 10:24:27 EDT Subject: Re: Book Review: 19th Century Telegraphers In a message dated 24 Apr 2004 20:13:52 -0700, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) writes: > I'd like to know more about Western Union from the postwar era (WW II) > to the present. In the 1960s they had a microwave network, they even > launched satellites, and they had government defense contracts to > handle data networks. It would seem a natural for them to handle the > growing computer data transmissions, but it all ended up to AT&T. > > The only WU history I have is "The Story of Telecommunications" by > George Oslin. It is a starting point, but a weak one. Oslin somewhat > glosses over some very critical issues. He blames the FCC for > favoring AT&T at the expense of Western Union, poor management, labor > troubles, and the forced wartime merger of Postal Telegraph, but does > not get into adequate detail and the time periods are somewhat merged > together. The Postal Telegraph-Cable Company was definitely a second and did not have local service in many smaller places. > We know long distance phones rates declined after WW II. At some > point the cost of a voice call became cheaper than sending a telegram; > I wonder when that point was reached (my guess is the late 1950s). > It's amazing how in old movies people contact home with urgent > messages by telegram rather than voice long distance, but in the 1940s > long distance was still very expensive, especially for more distant > calls. (I think short haul long distance was more affordable.) Western Union provided a telephone service, primarily long distance, for many years before and after World War II. In old advertisements you will find some companies advertised "W.U. Phone." It apparently worked much like a toll terminal from the Bell System and other established telcos, which were direct to/from the inward and outward toll boards, plugged in manually by the toll operator. The Daily Oklahoman in the late 1940s-1950s had a *group* of toll terminals which were reached as L.D. 343 (connected to the manual PBX) as well as L.D. 419 which went directly to the city editor's desk ... Presumably the arrangement was not uncommon among other businesses with a good deal of toll traffic. One thing that hurt W.U. in later years was the growth of businesses to areas outside the CBD. Most businesses of any size had a teletypewriter connection to/from the main W.U. office in town to send and receive telegrams, and W.U. had extensive wire networks through the CBD and other heavy user areas. But as businesses moved further out, they had to rely on the incumbent telco to lease them lines for these WUX terminals, since it wasn't economically feasible to install their own copper over such wide ranging areas. (For W.U., as for telcos, the lion's share of the revenue came from business users.) Actually, the telcos gave W.U. numerous breaks, including billing for telegrams placed by telephone on your telephone bill (yes, and even from coin boxes, where the operator would collect the coins just as for a telephone call). AT&T and its subsidiaries, in particular, wanted to preserve W.U. as a competitor, if for nothing else to avoid being the only option for communications and even more open to charges of monopoly. They sold TWX to W.U., which eventually (but probably too late) integrated it with their Telex system. W.U. also became a competitive long distance carrier after that came into the picture, and at one time I knew their 10XXX prefix. But the message telegraph business, requiring labor to type up the messages, and then to deliver them physically, was inherently high cost. Telephone subscribers enter their messages themselves (by speaking directly to the other customer, with no transcription or delivery functions involved). (In an earlier day, telegrams were sent by telegraph operators using Morse code; this required not one but two operators, one at the receiving end as well at the transmitting end, so even more costly.) > FWIW, WU says a telegram today costs $15 to send, it will be delivered > by an express company. I _think_ a telegram still has more legal > weight as an "official" message over a fax; kind of the equivalent of > a certified letter where you need proof of sending and receipt of your > message. I don't know how many people send telegrams today; their > business is money transfers and other bill paying services. Note the > original Western Union went bankrupt some years ago which was covered > up by creating a parent corporation to file to keep their name clean. I thought W.U. had given up the message telegram business entirely and no longer had any circuits of its own. I have read several places that you can't send (or receive) a telegram now in the U.S.A., but it might be obscurely available. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Back in the days when '900 Premium service' was a big thing and AT&T was one of several carriers which billed for those calls via telephone bills, AT&T decided it wanted out, since the fraud rate was so high and the customer service requirements of dealing with dirty old men with bad memories who could never remember making 'those calls' when questioned by their wives, etc were so labor intensive. A couple of the porn vendors who were relying heavily on AT&T billing for their 900 calls filed suit to force AT&T to continue that billing arrangement. They claimed it was the only convenient and practical way for them to get their money. AT&T said 'we are not in the collection agency business'. But the argument in court by the porn vendors was to rely on the 'precedent' set by the relationship between WUTCO and Bell to insist that it was 'perfectly common for AT&T to engage in doing collecting as a phone bill item on information services, i.e. Western Union'. I imagine Bell never thought that arrangement made back in the 1920's would ever show up to bite them in the ass seventy years later. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: Re: How to Return a Lost Cellular Telephone Found on the Street Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 09:24:08 -0600 Organization: Kaos OnLine Coalition On 23 Apr 2004 18:56:42 -0400, Don Saklad wrote: > How would you return a lost cellular telephone you found ?... > Where would there be postage paid mailers provided for returning > someone's lost cellular telephone you find on the street ? ... As other posters have demonstrated, there's no specific procedure for doing this. There are two services I know of which provide a specific mechanism to get valuables such as cell phones returned to you. If you believe their marketing pitch, having such tags on your valuables will increase the odds that they will be returned to you. They both address the problem: how can you provide a mechanism to return valuables without providing identification information (e.g., an address/phone number on a tag on a keychain could cause the keys to be abused). The products these companies provide are similar: professional labels which securely attach to your valuables. There is a unique identifier, an 800 number, and a URL on each tag. The finder of an object is given instructions on how to return it to the service company, who will then return it to you. The companies are StuffBak ( www.stuffbak.com ) and BoomerangIt ( www.boomerangit.com ). I have not used either service; I'd love to hear first-hand stories from subscribers to these -- or other similar services. --phil ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 13:36:16 -0400 Subject: Senate Mulls Internet Tax Ban Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1572745,00.asp By Caron Carlson The U.S. Senate is slated to vote this week whether or not to renew a ban that keeps state and local governments from taxing Internet access. But Internet services, particularly VOIP, are likely to get snared in the debate as a potential tax target not to be covered by the ban. The Internet access tax moratorium, first enacted in 1998, expired in the fall. As senators look to renew the ban, they have to consider the changes in broadband technology that have made high-speed access affordable to small and midsize businesses. The U.S. House of Representatives last fall voted to ban taxes on Internet access permanently and limit discriminatory taxes on Internet services. The Senate, however, reached a stalemate when a small group of senators fought to protect states' taxation rights. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a former governor, was the most vocal champion for the states and is sponsoring a limited extension of the moratorium for two years. This week, Alexander will press to reach a compromise, and a middle ground could be found in the area of voice over IP, an aide to the senator said. Although the technology industry and many policymakers view VOIP as a software application that should not be subject to traditional telecom regulation, states widely view it as a potential substitute for traditional telephony; such a stance could sap states of considerable revenue. Full story at: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1572745,00.asp How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ 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. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management (MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35 credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including data, video, and voice networks. The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum. Classes are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning. Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at 405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at http://www.mstm.okstate.edu ************************ In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V23 #208 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Apr 26 11:25:14 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3QFPEC01824; Mon, 26 Apr 2004 11:25:14 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 11:25:14 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404261525.i3QFPEC01824@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 #209 TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Apr 2004 11:25:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 209 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson A New Day for Voice (VOIP News) FCC Taps 8x8 for Washington, DC Video-Over-IP Demonstration (VOIP News) Net2Phone and Navini to Offer Wireless VoIP Company Charter (VOIP News) $10 M Wireless Telecom Network Proposed for Lower Manhattan (Nick Ruark) Re: Book Review: 19th Century Telegraphers (Jim Haynes) Re: Bad Weather Storm; Vonage Goes Out (Bob Goudreau) Re: Bad Weather Storm; Vonage Goes Out (Keith) President Bush: Internet Sales Tax Moratorium to be Continued (Editor) 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 are 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 00:17:27 -0400 Subject: A New Day for Voice Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.techcentralstation.com/042604C.html By Kevin Werbach Quick. What technology has two billion paying customers worldwide, generates over $300 billion in annual service revenues in the US, and is so important to daily life and business that we'd have a hard time functioning without it? No, not the Internet, the personal computer, or even the television. It's the humble telephone. So it's no small news that the telephone is facing its biggest revolution since Alexander Graham Bell called out for Mr. Watson. The four letters spelling out that revolution are: V-O-I-P. Voice over Internet Protocol means carrying phone calls and other forms of voice communication over data networks. It will have profound impacts on the economy, and on the way we work, socialize, get information, and entertain ourselves. It will power a transformation of the telecom industry, and of the entire information sector that depends upon it. It will generate enormous benefits for innovation, business efficiency, and individual freedom. That is, if politicians and government regulators don't smother it. And that, in a nutshell, is the rationale for this new section of Tech Central Station, focused on the important policy questions surrounding VOIP. Our goal is to make it the central meeting place for intellectuals, businesspeople, commentators, and other thought leaders concerned with this issue. Telecommunications is among the most heavily regulated segments of the economy. VOIP points towards the day when competitive free markets can replace that regulation, but we face a challenging transition to reach that point. Today's VOIP is like the early mammals scurrying around the feet of the dinosaurs: it will inherit the Earth as long as it isn't stamped out in its infancy. Full story at: http://www.techcentralstation.com/042604C.html How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 09:59:36 -0400 Subject: FCC Taps 8x8 for Washington, DC Video-Over-IP Demonstration Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-26-2004/0002159352&EDATE= Packet8 VoIP Video Devices Will Change the Way People Communicate and Dramatically Improve the Quality of Life and Accessibility for all SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 8x8, Inc. (Nasdaq: EGHT), the Packet8 broadband voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and video communications service provider, announced today that Dr. Barry Andrews, 8x8's President, will present and demonstrate the benefits of next-generation IP-communications services for disabled citizens at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Solutions Summit on Friday, May 7, 2004. This Solutions Summit is the second in a series where government, industry leaders and stakeholders discuss creative ways to address policy issues that arise as communications services move to Internet-Protocol-based platforms. This meeting will focus on the ways in which persons with disabilities access services that will be increasingly based upon IP technologies. 8x8 plans to demonstrate the DV326 videophone with Packet8 service to illustrate how IP-based technologies can help consumers with hearing and other disabilities communicate more completely. Dr. Andrews stated, "IP-based services with real-time, two-way TV-quality video will change the way all people communicate and operate every day in society." Dr. Andrews continued, "The FCC is looking into how people living with disabilities will be able to access these new IP-based services. We believe that rich media devices like the 8x8 DV326 that include video and other data services will actually improve the accessibility of those with disabilities to communication networks, and additionally provide unprecedented access to the physicians, careworkers, family and other remote parties that need to care for the disabled on a regular basis." The summit is open to the public, and seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. The FCC is recommending that attendees submit a pre-registration form. Pre-registration is encouraged, but not required. The pre-registration form is located at: http://www.fcc.gov/voip/. About 8x8, Inc. 8x8, Inc. offers the Packet8 broadband voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and video communications service (http://www.packet8.net), Packet8 Virtual Office and videophone equipment and services. For more information, visit 8x8's web site at http://www.8x8.com. About Packet8 Launched in 2002, Packet8 enables anyone with high-speed Internet access to sign up for voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and video communications service at http://www.packet8.net. Customers can choose a direct-dial phone number from any of the rate centers offered by the service, and then use an 8x8-supplied terminal adapter to connect any telephone to a broadband internet connection and make or receive calls from a regular telephone number. For $19.95/month, Packet8 subscribers can make unlimited calls to any telephone number in the United States and Canada, and unlimited calls to any other Packet8 subscriber anywhere in the world. All Packet8 accounts come with voice mail, caller ID, call waiting, call waiting caller ID, call forwarding, hold, line-alternate, 3-way conferencing, web access to account controls, and real-time online billing. Packet8 Virtual Office allows users anywhere in the world to be part of a virtual PBX that includes auto attendants, conference bridges, extension-to-extension dialing, ring groups and a host of other high end business class PBX features while still following true to Packet8 unlimited calling anywhere in the United States and Canada. NOTE: 8x8, the 8x8 logo, Packet8, the Packet8 logo and Packet8 Virtual Office are trademarks of 8x8, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. SOURCE 8x8, Inc. Web Site: http://www.8x8.com http://www.packet8.net http://www.fcc.gov/voip ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 10:21:23 -0400 Subject: Net2Phone and Navini to Offer Wireless VoIP Companies Charter Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040426005365&newsLang=en Net2Phone and Navini to Offer Wireless VoIP Companies Charter the Next Wave of Wi-Fi Expansion with Telephony Bundle NEWARK, N.J. & RICHARDSON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2004--Net2Phone (NASDAQ: NTOP) and Navini Networks, a leading Non-Line-of-Sight wireless broadband provider, today announced plans to empower wireless broadband connectivity with telephony services. The companies will jointly deliver Net2Phone's broadband telephony services over Navini's wireless broadband infrastructure, extending the flexibility and mobility of VoIP calling. Under this agreement, Navini and Net2Phone will offer VoIP telephony solutions to Navini's wireless broadband customers. Net2Phone has adapted its residential broadband telephony solution called VoiceLine to enable communications over wireless IP networks. VoiceLine provides a robust set of features and functionality, including inbound and outbound calling with applications such as phone number selection, call waiting, caller ID and voice mail. Calls are routed over Navini's Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) solution to Net2Phone's SIP-based platform, which performs call routing and management, supplies CLASS 5 features, provides billing and provisioning integration and distributes the infrastructure required for interconnecting onto and off of the Public Switched Telephone Network. Customers can place and receive local, long distance and international phone calls miles from the Navini Ripwave Base Station while stationary or portable throughout Navini's wireless metropolitan area broadband network. "Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks are clearly the next frontier for Net2Phone, as we extend our reach beyond the wired world," said Bryan Wiener, President of Net2Phone Global Services. "Navini's technological leadership in the space and superior support for QoS will allow Net2Phone to continue its leadership position in providing high quality VoIP solutions to telecom and high speed data providers across the globe." Wide area wireless broadband has become a viable alternative for customers to receive high-speed Internet access in rural areas and areas with low high-speed data availability where wired broadband is not an option. For Net2Phone, extending its retail VoIP offerings to the wireless environment enables Net2Phone to ride the wave of wireless broadband deployments by offering a bundle of telephony in conjunction with a high-speed wireless data product. Further enhancements to wireless VoIP will likely include VoIP enabled mobile handsets that allow consumers and business users to use the VoiceLine service anytime they are within the coverage footprint. Full press release at: http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040426005365&newsLang=en ------------------------------ From: Nick Ruark Subject: $10 M Wireless Telecom Network Propsed For Lower Manhattan Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 20:26:07 -0700 A Plan for Wireless Telecommunications Network By JOHN HOLUSHA A WIRELESS telecommunications system that would keep Lower Manhattan's computers and phones connected with the rest of the world in the event of a major disruption downtown has been proposed by officials of the Alliance for Downtown New York. (http://www.downtownny.com/) The proposed system would send signals through the air, rather than through fiber-optic cables or copper wires and would be the first such system in a central business district in the country, according to executives of the alliance, the downtown business improvement group. The signals would be sent to switching centers in Manhattan and some other location, probably in New Jersey, to ensure that if there is damage in one location, connections would be maintained through the links to other centers. The Lower Manhattan Wireless Redundancy System http://www.citylimits.org/content/articles/articleView.cfm?articlenumber=993 is intended to carry data, like stock and bond trading and banking transactions, but could be used for voice communications, if necessary, they said. However, the system requires an investment of $10 million in public money to install the basic components -- roof-top antennas and the structure to keep them in place. The system and other initiatives are part of a strategy by the alliance to use communications technology to increase the attractiveness of the area to small and medium-size companies that want reliable connections, but cannot afford to develop systems on their own. The issue of reliability is an important one downtown because the Sept. 11 attack cut off many companies, even those who had multiple carriers, because all their wires connected at 140 West Street, which was heavily damaged. "We looked at what Merrill Lynch and other large companies did to develop private networks," after the World Trade Center attack, said John J. Gilbert, the executive vice president of Rudin Management and chairman of a committee that studied the communications problem and recommended the new backup system. He said they relied on high speed data transmission through the air, which is called broadband wireless, to locations outside the city to ensure that their operations remain connected, regardless of the emergency. "Broadband wireless is here," Mr. Gilbert said. "The question is, how do we provide access to small and medium-size business? As we rebuild the telecommunications system downtown, we do not want to do it as it was; we want to do it as it should be." Shirley Jaffe, vice president of economic development for the alliance, said the group had been making presentations to the city, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and other institutions of government to secure the financing needed to build the basic system, which could be used by multiple telephone companies. Because of this, no single telephone company is willing to make the investment. "It has a lot of support from business, but we still need an entity of government to pay for it," she said. With billions being spend to rebuild downtown, Ms. Jaffe said, "$10 million is a relatively modest amount of money." She added, "We could be in operation within six months, and it would have a major positive impact in the short term." The system would cover all of Lower Manhattan by installing antennas and related equipment on five of the tallest buildings in the area, which are called hubs. Planners said just about every office in the area would be able to "see" one of the hubs, either through a window or by a common antenna operated by the landlord near the top of a building. The hubs would collect the communications signals and transmit them to what is known as a Point of Presence, or POP, which is a large switching location connected by various types of links -- wires, fiber-optic cables and microwave links - to national and international telecommunications networks. The transmission would be to POP's in multiple locations to ensure reliability. The transmissions would use both laser light in the not-visible infrared wavelengths and radio microwaves to add to reliability, Mr. Gilbert said. He said using both compensated for light's inability to penetrate fog and the tendency of microwave beams to spread out and grow unfocused. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/25/realestate/25COMM.html Forwarded from the Private Wireless Forum for Mobile Communication Professionals http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PrivateWirelessForum ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Book Review: 19th Century Telegraphers Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 23:50:32 GMT I too wish I could read somewhere about the late history of W.U. What's in the business press is pretty sketchy. Back on the subject of 19th century telegraphers, there is a more recent book, "My sisters telegraphic : women in the telegraph office, 1846-1950" by Thomas C. Jepsen, Ohio University Press. Concerning the business relationship between AT&T and W.U., Oslin's book says some of that started back when AT&T bought a controlling interest in W.U. and introduced the practice of accepting telegrams by telephone and having them appear on the phone bill. And that practice was continued even after the government forced AT&T to divest W.U. Of course at that point the new president of W.U., Newcomb Carlton, was hand-picked by Theodore Vail of AT&T. Some of the later W.U. presidents were hired from railroad companies and didn't know the telegraph business at all. The outstanding late president of W.U. was Walter Marshall, who ironically came to W.U. as part of the merger with Postal Telegraph. The last president of W.U. was a man who came up through the ranks starting as a messenger boy (trying unsuccessfully to remember his name right now). Perhaps he was the only one who could be found who would wear the captain's hat as the ship went down. jhhaynes at earthlink dot net ------------------------------ From: Bob Goudreau Subject: Re: Bad Weather Storm; Vonage Goes Out Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 22:50:45 -0400 [Please obscure my email address as usual. Thanks.] Linc Madison wrote: >> By the way -- the next time someone tries to argue that Amtrak should >> be getting a direct subsidy to level the playing field with all those >> public highways and interstates, you might point them to the $30 >> Billion every year that US taxpayers are paying for those roads. > Exactly the point -- the public highways and interstates are subsidized > by the taxpayers, tilting the playing field. To *level* the playing > field, we should subsidize rail travel, too. So, you are advocating charging additional taxes on rail users as a way of making rail *more* attractive? To *really* level the playing field, divert part of those rail taxes to pay for roads. After all, a portion of road fuel taxes is already diverted to other forms of transportation. Bob Goudreau Cary, NC ------------------------------ From: Keith Subject: Re: Bad Weather Storm; Vonage Goes Out Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 22:54:35 -0400 Pat, Yeah as others have mentioned, use a UPS. I have both a 650 and 1000 for a couple different computers. I have my cable modem and wireless router+switch on my UPS. It's pretty neat to be online surfing when the power is out to the house. With this being said, I think this is a good argument for why I would never get rid of a normal regular POTS line at home. I hear people replacing their home phones with cell phones, with VOIP phones, etc. I've got a regular el cheapo corded plugged in that takes power from the line. The uptime experienced in the voice world kicks butt over anything in the data world. Keith TELECOM Digest Editor wrote in message news:telecom23.206.12@telecom-digest.org... > My questions are: since battery will keep computers going temporarily, > and assuming one's cable line/or phone and DSL line was working, I am > wondering if one could not run a battery to the Motorola MTA and the > router and keep your Vonage on line even when the computers otherwise > are shut down? > PAT [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But a good flip side of this argument is that an independent UPS or power supply eliminates another of the excuses for the 'why Vonage could never replace traditional Bell' things, doesn't it. When the UPS is properly configured, since the 'telephone' line (DSL in this instance) is so reliable, Vonage is also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: President Bush 'No Internet Taxes' Promise Today Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 10:00 CDT As I compiled/edited this issue of the Digest, President Bush was speaking (over the satellite radio, from a university in Minnesota) and promising that if he is re-elected in November, the moratorium on 'taxes on sales over the internet' will be continued. Of course Bush has occassionally (?) been sometimes less than forthright in his statements and promises so it remains to be seen how this will work out when the present moratorium (established for five years in 1998-99) expires later this year. But note your records please, he is promising it today at the all-day event in Minnesota. PAT ------------------------------ 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. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management (MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35 credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including data, video, and voice networks. The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum. Classes are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning. Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at 405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at http://www.mstm.okstate.edu ************************ In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V23 #209 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Apr 26 17:02:06 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3QL26G04818; Mon, 26 Apr 2004 17:02:06 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 17:02:06 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404262102.i3QL26G04818@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 #210 TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Apr 2004 17:02:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 210 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #430, April 26, 2004 (Angus TeleManagement) A Digital Video Recorder Leader Lags (Monty Solomon) A Quirky Brilliance vs. the Dreams of Venture Capitalists (M. Solomon) Re: Book Review: 19th Century Telegraphers (Lisa Hancock) Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 (J Kelly) Northern Telecom Unity Controller Question (Doug Rorem) VoIP Analogy (Lisa Hancock) Dialpad Launches New Broadband Phone Service (VOIP News) SBC Sues AT&T Over Internet Phone Fees (VOIP News) Linksys Finds its Voice (VOIP News) 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 are 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 Apr 2004 11:21:32 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #430, April 26, 2004 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 430: April 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: ** Aliant Strike Begins ** CRTC Extends VoIP Review Schedule ** GT Bundles LD with Voice Trunks ** Navigata Launches Local VoIP Service ** Canada Payphone Files for Bankruptcy ** Celestica to Lay Off Another 5,000 ** AT&T Must Pay Fees on "Phone to Phone" IP Calls ** Cities Want Oral Hearing on Allstream Disputes ** Telco Confidentiality Rules Extended to Resellers ** UBS Sues Allstream, Microcell, and Inukshuk ** Motorola Licenses Blackberry Software ** Shaw Offers Global Internet Roaming ** Telus Launches Fast Dial-Up ** Meeting to Review 9-1-1 and VoIP ** EastLink Says Aliant Flouting CRTC Order ** MCI Emerges from Chapter 11 ** FCI Broadband Names New CEO ** Rogers Provides Listings by Text ** UTStarcom Buying Vancouver CDMA Developer ** Telehop Plans Expansion ** Rogers Wireless Operating Profit Up 42% ** Angus at the Podium ============================================================ ALIANT STRIKE BEGINS: 4,300 members of the Council of Atlantic Telecommunications Unions went on strike against Aliant on April 23. Aliant says it will maintain service, but customers should expect delays. CRTC EXTENDS VoIP REVIEW SCHEDULE: In response to requests from telcos and PIAC (see Telecom Update #429), the CRTC has extended the timetable for the VoIP proceeding. Comments and evidence must now be filed by June 18 (instead of April 28), and the public consultation will be September 21-22 (instead of May 19-20). Parties will exchange interrogatories and replies over the summer. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Letters/2004/lt040422.htm ** So far, 113 interested parties have registered to participate in or monitor the VoIP proceeding. www.crtc.gc.ca/ENG/public/Iplists/pn04-02.htm GT BUNDLES LD WITH VOICE TRUNKS: GT Group Telecom now offers 1,000 minutes of North American long distance calling with each $53.95/month business trunk (minimum three trunks), and 17,000 minutes with T-1 local voice access, in 16 Canadian cities where it sells local service. NAVIGATA LAUNCHES LOCAL VoIP SERVICE: SaskTel subsidiary Navigata Communications has begun offering local phone service over high-speed Internet lines in eight B.C. and Alberta cities. WebCall is initially available in two packages, bundled with 400 or 1,000 minutes of North American long distance for $29.95 or $39.95 a month. A $49.95/month version with multimedia features is "coming soon." CANADA PAYPHONE FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY: Canada Payphone Corporation, the last remaining competitive payphone provider of any size, has requested and received court protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. The company says it will file a restructuring plan proposal by May 7. Appel & Co. is trustee. CELESTICA TO LAY OFF ANOTHER 5,000: Toronto-based Celestica, which makes electronic components, says it will lay off about 5,000 employees--up to 15% of its work force--over the next 12 months. First-quarter revenue of US$2.0 billion was up 27% from a year earlier. AT&T MUST PAY FEES ON "PHONE TO PHONE" IP CALLS: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has ruled that AT&T must pay access fees when its LD calls originate and terminate on traditional PSTN-connected phones, even when the calls travel in part on the Internet. www.fcc.gov CITIES WANT ORAL HEARING ON ALLSTREAM DISPUTES: Toronto and Calgary have asked the CRTC for a "more court-like procedure," including an oral hearing and the right to cross- examine witnesses, when it considers Allstream's application to amend their municipal access agreements (see Telecom Update #424). The cities say the issues cannot be dealt with fairly in a written proceeding. ** Edmonton, Vancouver, and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities have asked for standing in the proceedings. TELCO CONFIDENTIALITY RULES EXTENDED TO RESELLERS: The CRTC says resellers must abide by the rules prohibiting disclosure of confidential customer information without the customer's express consent (see Telecom Update #386). The requirement is imposed through carriers' current and future contracts with resellers. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2004/dt2004-27.htm UBS SUES ALLSTREAM, MICROCELL, AND INUKSHUK: In the continuing dispute over who has the right to use Inukshuk Internet's 2.5 MHz spectrum, Unique Broadband Systems has filed suit against Allstream, Microcell, and Inukshuk Internet, seeking $150 million in damages. (See Telecom Update #384, 409, 423) MOTOROLA LICENSES BLACKBERRY SOFTWARE: Research in Motion has signed an agreement that allows Motorola to enable specific mobile phones to connect to BlackBerry services. SHAW OFFERS GLOBAL INTERNET ROAMING: Shaw Communications Internet customers can now get roaming access in 100 countries, through a service provided by Minneapolis-based RemotePipes, Inc. TELUS LAUNCHES FAST DIAL-UP: Telus now offers dial-up access at up to 280 Kbps in Alberta and B.C. Fast Dial-Up, which uses data compression technology from SlipStream, costs $2.95/month on top of existing fees; it will be offered in Quebec this summer. MEETING TO REVIEW 9-1-1 AND VoIP: The National Emergency Number Association will hold a "Critical Issues Forum" on E9-1-1 and Voice over IP in Markham, Ontario, May 18-20. The meeting, co-located with the VON Canada conference, will update telecom and public safety personnel on current and future plans for 9-1-1 systems. www.nena.org/Events/CIF/CIF.htm EASTLINK SAYS ALIANT FLOUTING CRTC ORDER: EastLink says Aliant is still offering the Value Packages that the CRTC ruled in Decision 2004-21 must be tariffed (see Telecom Update #427). EastLink accuses the telco of "regulatory gaming" and "disregard for Commission rules." www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2004/8622/e17_200403650.htm MCI EMERGES FROM CHAPTER 11: MCI shed US$35 billion in debt April 20 when it formally emerged from U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company, which has 50,000 employees, says it lost none of its 100 largest customers during bankruptcy proceedings. FCI BROADBAND NAMES NEW CEO: FCI Broadband, a Markham-based Competitive Local Exchange Carrier, has named Nick Melatti as its new President and Chief Executive Officer. ROGERS PROVIDES LISTINGS BY TEXT: Rogers Wireless customers who call Directory Assistance now receive the name, address, and phone number listing by text message at no additional cost. UTSTARCOM BUYING VANCOUVER CDMA DEVELOPER: Telos Technology, a Vancouver-based supplier of CDMA network technology, is being acquired by UTStarcom, a California-based specialist in IP access networking, for between $29 million and $48 million, depending on future revenue. TELEHOP PLANS EXPANSION: Telehop, a Toronto-based long distance reseller, says it plans to expand this year into the Maritimes, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. ROGERS WIRELESS OPERATING PROFIT UP 42%: Rogers Wireless reports first-quarter operating profit of $217 million, 42% higher than a year ago. Sales rose 19% to $593 million. A net loss of $1.0 million was attributed to currency fluctuations. Monthly postpaid disconnects declined to 1.73%; data services accounted for 4.9% of network revenue. ** Rogers Communications lost $65 million on revenue of $1.26 billion. ANGUS AT THE PODIUM: Principals of Angus Telemanagement and Angus Dortmans Associates will speak at several events in May: ** Henry Dortmans speaks on "Your Call Centre Credibility Quotient" at the Alberta Call Centre Association conference in Edmonton, May 12, and on "Call Centre Leadership" at the International Customer Service Association conference in Toronto, May 19. ** Ian Angus speaks on "Implementing Enterprise IP-PBXs" at customer meetings organized by SaskTel in Regina and Saskatoon, May 18 and 19, and moderates a session on the same subject at the VON Canada conference in Toronto, May 20. ** For information on booking Angus speakers for your next meeting, visit www.angustel.ca/SeminarsKeynotes.html or e-mail ianangus@angustel.ca. ============================================================ 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 2004 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. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 13:48:27 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Digital Video Recorder Leader Lags Tales of digital video recorders, devices that record television programs on a hard drive, are finally gaining momentum, a study by IDC, a market research firm, has found. But TiVo, the company that popularized the concept, is increasingly being left behind by the success. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/26/business/media/26MOSTWANTED.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 13:55:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Quirky Brilliance vs. the Dreams of Venture Capitalists By SAUL HANSELL Not every company would coyly spurn billions of dollars and front-page attention. Yet Google seems intent on staying private as long as possible despite the clamoring of investors to own a piece of a company that has become synonymous with instant information on the Web. There are many good reasons to avoid a public stock offering and the close scrutiny it brings. Indeed, this week the scrutiny will intensify as the company approaches a deadline to file financial disclosures. But in Google's case, its hesitancy up to this point has been a symptom of a long-running battle for control between its two brainy, headstrong founders and the powerful, strong-willed financiers who gave them the money to turn their graduate school project into one of the world's leading brands, according to several people in and outside Google. The two founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who own perhaps 40 percent of the company, could become billionaires several times over if they take it public. But according to people who have dealt with them, they are less interested in cashing out than in maintaining their ability to direct Google's ambitious strategy and idiosyncratic style. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/26/technology/26google.html ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Book Review: 19th Century Telegraphers Date: 26 Apr 2004 07:39:50 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Wesrock@aol.com wrote > Western Union provided a telephone service, primarily long distance, > for many years before and after World War II. Was this a common thing or limited to a few special places? I didn't think WU's circuits could handle voice that well -- voice requires more bandwidth than telegraph (either Morse or Baudot), and that means repeaters, loading, switching, all must take that into account. One of the challenges that the Bell System faced with direct distance dialing (and operator dialing before that) was the proper set up of amplication into the circuit. Too much or too little would make the call inaudible or create nasty echo. The Bell System history (1925-1975) spends considerable space describing what had to be over come. To provide long distance voice, WU would have to do that same stuff, which would be expensive if not their primary business. > One thing that hurt W.U. in later years was the growth of > businesses to areas outside the CBD. Most businesses of any size > had a teletypewriter connection to/from the main W.U. office in town > to send and receive telegrams, and W.U. had extensive wire networks > through the CBD and other heavy user areas. This is true, but I think WU's decline -- in the 1960s -- happened before that many businesses moved out to the suburbs. There were still plenty of traditional customers (banks, newspapers) in the downtown who would make use of WU's plant. I sense that WU, despite having microwave and even satellites, wasn't that interested in its own wire plant, and leased considerable circuits from AT&T pretty early on. Perhaps its city wire plant was old and need of upgrade or replacement but they didn't have the funds or see a justification in the 1960s. > AT&T and its subsidiaries, in particular, wanted to preserve > W.U. as a competitor, if for nothing else to avoid being the only > option for communications and even more open to charges of monopoly. > They sold TWX to W.U., which eventually (but probably too late) > integrated it with their Telex system. Oslin feels the FCC favored AT&T's TWX to the extent it hurt WU's Telex; it was sold way too late to make a difference. > W.U. also became a competitive long distance carrier after > that came into the picture, and at one time I knew their 10XXX > prefix. Again, one wonders why they didn't stick with this. Did they still have their microwave and satellites to use for this service? I remember WU long distance, but they didn't market it very hard and I don't think it lasted very long. Actually, unlike the Bell System which advertised heavily, I don't recall much WU advertising at all. But admittedly, they were focused more for business customers wouldn't advertise on mainstream consumer media. Still, I don't recall ads for them in publications targeting affluent or business customers. The only big thing I remember WU pushing in the 1970s was Mailgram, which they did push hard. I think that service was relatively successful; I know I received quite a few over the years from businesses. Compuserve in its early days had a Mailgram feature. > But the message telegraph business, requiring labor to type up > the messages, and then to deliver them physically, was inherently > high cost. Telephone subscribers enter their messages themselves > (by speaking directly to the other customer, with no transcription > or delivery functions involved). Telegrams remained big business until after WW II because long distance phone rates were so high and not everyone had phones. Once LD rates declined in the late 1950s, telegrams ceased to have an economic advertising. (I wonder in what year the rates balanced out.) > I thought W.U. had given up the message telegram business > entirely and no longer had any circuits of its own. I have read > several places that you can't send (or receive) a telegram now in > the U.S.A., but it might be obscurely available. I doubt they have any circuits of their own, transmitting everything over leased lines. They do offer telegram service, see www.westernunion.com . However, I think they only accept a message from on-line submission payable by credit card, not at any money transfer agents. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Back in the days when '900 Premium > service' was a big thing and AT&T was one of several carriers which > billed for those calls via telephone bills, AT&T decided it wanted > out, since the fraud rate was so high and the customer service > requirements of dealing with dirty old men with bad memories who > could never remember making 'those calls' when questioned by their > wives, etc were so labor intensive. ... I imagine > Bell never thought that arrangement made back in the 1920's would > ever show up to bite them in the ass seventy years later. PAT] One thing I wonder about is how AT&T dealt with toll charge complaints, both paid and collect, back in the days when long distance was very expensive. Keeping toll tickets and accurate recording of them was of course very important in those days. A toll charge of $2 in 1948 equated to $40 today; if someone called coast-to-coast and talked for 10 minutes, the charge would be quite considerable. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: AT&T did keep voluminous records on toll charges. As calls were completed and 'stamped out' they went on a clip and picked up from there by clerks who went around the various switchboard positions roughly every ten to fifteen minutes, twenty-four hours daily. A 'batch' of toll-charge tickets (maybe two or three hour's worth of tickets) were then numerically by time and telephone number *then microfilmed* prior to any further processing. This gave the company backup paper in the event of mishandling later in the processing. The microfilm machine printed indicia on each paper ticket which, combined with the time-clock stamps of 'up and down' gave a very good audit trail. Operator started a toll call, time-clock stamped the paper in; call completed and paper was stamped again, since all operator positions had a little time-clock as part of them. Now with the tickets microfilmed, the original paper work went to the 'ledger posting clerks' who traveled around the file room area with a shopping card size thing with boxes full of the paper tickets, arranged in numerical order, just as the warehouse full of filing cabinets were arranged; i.e. all the toll tickets beginning with the phone number '1' were in order with the files for same in the same order. All the '1's were here, all the '9's were over there a few aisles away, etc. As the ledger clerks pushed their shopping carts along it was sort of like 'reverse shopping'. Stop in front of the files for '1', open the drawer, riffle through the files for the telephone number you wanted, drop the slip of paper in the file, and then on the 'ledger page' on the front of each file, write in the amount of the latest charge, the other details, etc. Now close the file cabinet and move along. Maybe two hours later, when the ledger clerk had emptied her cart of tickets, she maybe went on break or to the bathroom, and then back to the microfilm area where the clerks there had been busy shoving stacks of new tickets into the microfilm machine which whirred along, spitting out microfilmed charge tickets with their indicia on them somewhere. She would load her shopping cart and set out again to the files area doing the same thing again. This went on 24/7. Of course now and then she would get to a queue of file cabinets -- let's say the '7's -- and they would be empty. Not a paper file jacket to be found anywhere. That's because the '7's were out in 'bookkeeping' (the bookkeepers had priority over *almost everyone* in the office; ledger clerks were only one step or so below them.) So then those tickets would be recycled for posting a day or so later, when the '7's files came back from bookkeeping. This was all in the 1930-50's era. The bookkeepers also traveled around the file room area daily, gathering up the files which were going to be 'in bookkeeping' for the next two or three days. They added up and balanced the ledger sheets and bundled up the charge tickets then used a 'comptometer' machine to print out the official bill the customers received. Did you ever hear of the 'Victor Comptom- eter Company'? Victor Comptometer was on the north side of Chicago and sold many of those rather large, heavy machines to companies which did heavy-duty financial stuff. The bookkeepers also printed reports of their activities each day for use by customer service people, toll misbilling investigators and others. The reason files had to be 'in bookkeeping' for three days (and thus unavailable to most of the other employees for *their* work) was because day one was to sort out the tickets and other charge/credit tickets within the files and microfilm them (in their new order) once again; day two was to caculate and balance the ledger sheets and begin printing the statements; day three was to 'finish up' and get the file folders back to the file room and in place. Customer service people were a little bit different. When they got a phone call from a customer at their desk, they put the call 'on hold' and walked into the file area where they located the file, sat down at a nearby utility desk in a stall, plugged in their headset to get the call back, and go over the parts of the bill the customer was questioning. If a ledger posting clerk was walking past and needed the file, she would just snap her fingers or otherwise make a hand motion, then reach over and take the file out of the service rep's hands, make the proper notation on the jacket, drop the ticket in the file and hand the folder back to the rep who was still conversing with the customer and walk away. Usually not a word exchanged. If the service rep went to look for the file and could not find it (because it was in bookkeeping) then she had to tell the customer some excuse such as "I cannot get your file right now, I will look for it and call you back in a day or two with the answer and correction, etc". No one ever took a file 'out of bookkeeping' without permission from the supervisor. 'Bookkeeping' released the file when they were done working on it. And if the rep was in the public cubicle reading the file and talking to the customer when a bookkeeper came around to get it she had the authority to just take it away as needed, but of course etiquette and courtesy dictated to ask the rep and not just take it out of her hands and walk away with it. It happened both ways; no one thought badly about it. Bookkeepers reigned supreme, and ledger posting clerks were a close second. It had to be that way to make the 'system' work as it should. And the overhead loud speaker would come on a few times each day asking service reps "please search on your desks for file (number) which is needed by bookkeeping. If you have the file, call a messenger to get it." Or maybe you came back from lunch prepared to work on that file, and discovered it had disappeared from your desk while you were at lunch. That was because the messenger/office mail carriers were authorized to riffle through *your personal stack of office files* when they came around a few times each day. They always carried with them a sheet of paper called a 'wind up' which was a list of the files (numbers) missing in action being searched for which were needed by other reps or the toll fraud investigators, etc, and those people had to wait in line behind the bookkeepers also. And despite all this, in the old days, customers were always right, had been misunderstood, etc. Telco wrote off some incredibly large debts because of 'misunderstandings'. Despite telco's very sophisticated filing/bookeeping system, it was always 'the service representative misunderstood your request' or 'our operator somehow copied down the wrong number when making up the toll ticket', or maybe, 'our operator somehow forgot to stamp out the ticket on your call which you claim lasted three minutes but our records show lasted for three hours'. Customers (called 'subs' or short for subscribers) would lie through their teeth and the company would say 'sorry, it was our fault' and give them credit anyway. Yes, many mistakes were the company's fault, but the customers were sort of abusive also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 10:04:51 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@newsguy.com On Sat, 24 Apr 2004 19:45:57 +0000 (UTC), hes@unity.ncsu.edu (Henry E Schaffer) wrote: > I'm with Clarence. We are considering replacing our 1987 Sears 27" > (something around that size) -- and one of our delays is trying to > decide on what aspect ratio we want or need (4:3 or 16:9). (That's > another thing which may change in the few years.) Unless you are primarily watching 16:9 programming, I would stick with 4:3. My dad bought a 16:9 and it is terribly annoying to watch 99.5% of programming on that thing, it squashes the picture to make it wider so everyone looks 25 lbs overweight. PC Magazine just did an article on TV displays and they recommend 4:3 for most people unless they have a compelling reason to need 16:9. I really thought I wanted widescreen until I watched my dad's set for a couple of days. Now I just plan to buy a bigger 4:3 set, something large enough to still look okay for the widescreen stuff I do watch (mostly DVD's). ------------------------------ From: Doug Rorem Subject: Northern Telecom Unity Controller Question Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 14:09:51 -0500 Organization: The University of Illinois at Chicago Hello, I'm wondering if anyone has information on the pinouts for the 25 pair Amp connector to the Unity Controller console? [ours are wired for Parallel usage]. Thanks in advance! (the actual model number is NT4L14AB-35) Doug Rorem rorem@EXTRANEOUSuic.edu remove the EXTRANEOUS to contact me ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: VoIP Analogy Date: 26 Apr 2004 09:32:30 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Someone explained how VoIP (voice over Internet) isn't paying its share of the costs by the following analogy. Not knowing much about this, I'll leave it others to judge its validity. Imagine two grocery stores, A & B, located across a street from each other. "A" sells soda pop at 50c a can on a shelf. "B" sells chilled soda pop from a refrigerated display case at 75c a can. It was found that customers seeking a chilled soda would buy it from "A" at 50c, then go over and put it in the refrigerator at "B" to cool it. Thus, "B" ended up selling its competitor's product -- and extra expense -- but without the revenue. Our telecom director emphasizes that the Internet is NOT free, and VoIP represents an additional expense. Just because the end consumer pays a flat rate (or nothing at all in the case of employees) doesn't mean that a service is free. The consumers putting soda in a frige to cool it think it isn't costing anything, but it really is, especially when adding up many consumers. ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 11:59:31 -0400 Subject: Dialpad Launches New Broadband Phone Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-26-2004/0002159641&EDATE= Service Designed to Be Compatible With Multiple IP Phone Devices and Adaptors MILPITAS, Calif., April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Dialpad Communications, Inc. (http://www.dialpad.com), a leading global provider of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, announced today that it has added a Broadband phone service to its suite of products and services. Dialpad customers equipped with a broadband Internet connection, such as Cable or DSL, can now make low-cost calls over the Internet using their standard phone and an adaptor device. With the broadband phone service, making a call is as easy as picking up the phone and dialing. Dialpad is offering the Cisco ATA 186 and the Sipura SPA2000 gateways for use with this service. Dialpad has also announced that in the coming months it will be adding other broadband phone devices to its offerings and rolling out several special calling features for its broadband phone users. "VoIP technology is changing how we think about communications. Not only are we able to provide huge cost savings to our users while making calls, but also are able to offer a service with a quality that is virtually indistinguishable from the traditional phone service. The addition of the broadband phone devices now makes it even easier for our users to access our service and gives them the increased comfort and familiarity of using their existing phones to make calls. We look forward to adding additional features to this product line over the course of the year," said Dialpad's CEO, Craig Walker. "As a leader in worldwide Internet telephony, Dialpad is in an excellent position to capitalize on the rapid growth in this industry." About Dialpad Communications(R) Dialpad Communications, Inc. is a leading provider of high-quality Internet calling services, generating over 300 million calls in more than 200 countries worldwide. Dialpad's patent-pending technology has made it the Internet's best phone call, with no large downloads or complicated installations required. The company is based in Milpitas, CA and can be reached at (408) 635-1000 or at http://www.dialpad.com. Dialpad Communications and Dialpad are trademarks of Dialpad Communications, Inc., and are registered in certain jurisdictions. This release was issued on behalf of the above organization by Send2Press(TM), a unit of Neotrope(R). http://www.Send2Press.com. SOURCE Dialpad Communications, Inc. Web Site: http://www.dialpad.com How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 10:52:49 -0400 Subject: SBC Sues AT&T Over Internet Phone Fees Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.americasnetwork.com/americasnetwork/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=93163 Reuters WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) - SBC Communications Inc., the second-largest U.S. local phone company, has sued long-distance giant AT&T Corp. claiming it avoided paying at least $141 million in connection fees for calls carried partly over the Internet. The lawsuit by SBC, filed in a St. Louis federal court on Thursday, follows a ruling by federal regulators a day earlier that AT&T was improperly deeming long-distance calls it carried over the Internet as local calls and paying local phone companies lower fees than normal. SBC "seeks not only to recover the exchange access charges that AT&T has unlawfully avoided -- which SBC estimates to be at least $141 million and possibly much more -- but also to enjoin AT&T from perpetuating its unlawful conduct," the lawsuit said. AT&T was not immediately available for comment. Full story at: http://www.americasnetwork.com/americasnetwork/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=93163 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 11:37:04 -0400 Subject: Linksys Finds its Voice Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://news.com.com/2008-7352_3-5197172.html?part=rss&tag=feed&tag&subj=news By Winston Chai Special to CNET News.com If Victor Tsao has his way, your next broadband router could bear an uncanny resemblance to your living room telephone. Ten months after his company was bought by Cisco Systems for $500 million, the founder of consumer networking gear maker Linksys plans to embark on an aggressive product expansion trail this year. Beyond latching onto the digital entertainment wave with more offerings for multimedia streaming and wireless console gaming, Tsao will venture into an area where many before him have seen limited success -- Internet telephony. [.....] When do you plan to launch your VoIP products? We have a product right now -- an analog terminal adapter for VoIP. Within a month or two, we will work with some voice service providers in the U.S. to launch this product. That will be the first one. A lot more products will come out in the second part of this year. Full story at: http://news.com.com/2008-7352_3-5197172.html?part=rss&tag=feed&tag&subj=news ------------------------------ 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. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V23 #210 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Apr 27 15:22:40 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3RJMdr14469; Tue, 27 Apr 2004 15:22:40 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 15:22:40 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404271922.i3RJMdr14469@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 #211 TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Apr 2004 15:21:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 211 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: VoIP Analogy (Dave Phelps) Re: VoIP Analogy (Jack Decker) Re: VoIP Analogy (Barry Margolin) New to VOIP, Can I Use workgroup Hub Instead of Router? (dannykewl) Re: The GMail Saga (John Mayson) Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 (Mark Crispin) Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 (Joseph) Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 (Scott Dorsey) Qwest Drops Access Fees on 'Pure' VoIP (VOIP News) Qwest to Forgo Link-up Fee for Some Web Phone Calls (VOIP News) Nupoint Messenger 4.7 (RAH) LERG and NXX Routing Question (Brett N) Comcast Releasing its Own Set-Top Box (Monty Solomon) NAB Wrap-up (Monty Solomon) Under Assault: Cable is About to Get Whacked (Monty Solomon) Verizon Reports First-Quarter Revenue Growth of 3.9% (Monty Solomon) Digital Switch on Target Says BBC (Monty Solomon) 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 are 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: VoIP Analogy Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 22:53:51 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com There is something missing in your analogy. That is the fact that G (government) sets the price A pays to use B's refrigerator space. A does not have the financial capacity to purchase it's own refrigerator, which is required to offer cold soda. Therefore, A is required to rent refrigerator space from B to chill the soda. However, the price B gets to charge is set by G (the government). The question is not whether B is subsidizing A, but has G set a fair wholesale price for the refrigerator space? Knowing the answer to the second question will provide the answer to the first. If you listen to B's spin doctors, G has set the price too low. If you listen to A's spin doctors, G has set the price too high. In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com says: > Someone explained how VoIP (voice over Internet) isn't paying > its share of the costs by the following analogy. Not knowing > much about this, I'll leave it others to judge its validity. > Imagine two grocery stores, A & B, located across a street from > each other. > "A" sells soda pop at 50c a can on a shelf. "B" sells chilled > soda pop from a refrigerated display case at 75c a can. It was > found that customers seeking a chilled soda would buy it from "A" > at 50c, then go over and put it in the refrigerator at "B" to > cool it. Thus, "B" ended up selling its competitor's product -- > and extra expense -- but without the revenue. > Our telecom director emphasizes that the Internet is NOT free, and > VoIP represents an additional expense. Just because the end consumer > pays a flat rate (or nothing at all in the case of employees) doesn't > mean that a service is free. > The consumers putting soda in a frige to cool it think it isn't > costing anything, but it really is, especially when adding up many > consumers. Dave Phelps DD Networks www.ddnets.com deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 23:49:17 -0400 From: Jack Decker Subject: Re: VoIP Analogy Pat, please withhold my e-mail address as usual. On 26 Apr 2004 09:32:30 -0700, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote: > Someone explained how VoIP (voice over Internet) isn't paying > its share of the costs by the following analogy. Not knowing > much about this, I'll leave it others to judge its validity. I won't quote the entire grocery store analogy again, but without further clarification it makes very little sense to me at all. Who are the two grocery stores supposed to represent? What does the pop represent? I guess what I'm saying is that this analogy doesn't seem to be truly applicable to anything I'm aware of! > Our telecom director emphasizes that the Internet is NOT free, and > VoIP represents an additional expense. Just because the end consumer > pays a flat rate (or nothing at all in the case of employees) doesn't > mean that a service is free. Okay, I'm getting really sick of hearing this sort of nonsense. When someone makes a statement like that, my thought is that he's either an idiot or a penny pincher. "Pure" VoIP is simply data flowing over the Internet. As far as the Internet is concerned, it is no different from e-mail, instant messaging, web browsing, reading Usenet news, or any of the hundreds of other types of data that can be sent over the Internet. Now one could argue that it uses more bandwidth than the activities I just named, but then I could counter with examples like streaming audio, streaming video, large file downloads, online gaming, and certain other activities that people engage in. And we're not even talking about certain types of commercial and institutional usage that consume enormous amounts of bandwidth. To give but one example, there is a particular streaming audio feed that I listen to from time to time -- it just happens to play a type of music I enjoy when I'm in the right mood. The feed just happens to be in London, England. So I am using bandwidth on a transatlantic circuit just for my own enjoyment. Don't tell the penny-pinching telecom director, he'd probably have a heart attack (by the way, Lisa, I'm just curious, does anyone in your workplace listen to streaming audio feeds while working?). All VoIP is, when you get right down to it, is two-way streaming audio. But note that with VoIP, we're only looking for voice grade quality, not FM music quality, so the speech can be highly compressed. Furthermore, I believe that most VoIP protocols actually don't transmit "silence" during pauses in speech, and the VoIP adapters use "comfort noise generation" to fool you into thinking you're hearing background noise from the other end for the duration of the call. So a 20 minute VoIP call probably uses a LOT less bandwidth than if I listen to the streaming audio feed from London for 20 minutes (and when I have that feed on, it's usually for longer than 20 minutes!). > The consumers putting soda in a fridge to cool it think it isn't > costing anything, but it really is, especially when adding up many > consumers. Well, if I'm understanding the point being made here, this gets down to the old "measured service" vs. "flat rate" argument. Certainly, it does cost to add bandwidth to an Internet link. But it's not necessarily a recurring monthly cost (at least for the owner of the fiber, or whatever underlying transport medium is used) -- once the added capacity is installed, it can probably work for years. Now, if a company buys bandwidth on a metered basis (where they pay so much per gigabyte transferred, for example), then yes, the use of VoIP might cause their costs to increase a small amount (but I would bet the amount would be negligible compared to what they'd save in toll charges). It should be noted that most home users pay a flat monthly rate and get either unlimited usage, or usage with a fairly large cap (such caps are very controversial because often the broadband provider won't tell customers how much they're allowed to download before they've exceeded the cap!). Now as for those unfortunate users with usage caps, I have yet to hear anyone complain that the use of VoIP alone caused them to exceed their cap and get a nastygram from their ISP. Typically the people who are most affected by the caps are those who engage in extensive file trading (particularly of the type of files frowned upon by certain organizations with four-letter acronyms). Some people seem to object to VoIP because it's a commercial service -- someone dares to charge money and then use the Internet for transport! Well my take on that is, each and every broadband subscriber is paying for "transport service", and should therefore be able to use that transport for anything that can be converted to bits and bytes (with certain exceptions that have nothing to do with what we're talking about). One person uses their bandwidth for real-time online gaming, another for buying and selling on eBay, another for watching Major League Baseball games -- and note that all of those activities may involve payment to another entity, above and beyond the bandwidth. So far, to the best of my knowledge, no one has suggested that when Major League Baseball sells a $14.95/month subscription to MLB.TV off their web site, they should kick back some amount to the ISP. When you buy a book from Amazon, no one complains that they are getting a free ride because you're using the Internet to browse their catalog. When some gaming company sells a subscription to an interactive online game service, nobody seems to question that. And yet, let someone do two-way audio over the Internet for the purpose of voice communications and suddenly certain special interests want to accuse them of being thieves or worse. For some reason certain people want to portray VoIP as different from *every other application* that sends data over the Internet, including those that send real-time audio and/or video. I'm afraid I just don't have a lot of patience with such folks. I figure they are either blathering idiots who have bought into the propaganda being spewed by some of the incumbent phone companies, or they have some financial interest in preserving the status quo. Okay, maybe I'm being a little harsh, maybe they've just never thought of it the way I've just explained it. But if they haven't put that much thought into it, then they ought not to be pontificating to others and displaying their ignorance for all to see (by the way, I am NOT talking about Lisa, who posted the message I'm responding to - she's just repeating something she was told by someone else, someone who probably ought to know better but apparently doesn't). Please keep this in mind: If by some really crazy turn of events VoIP is treated differently from every other application using the Internet, and required to pay for "transport" above and beyond what everyone else pays, how long do you think it will be before your ISP starts wanting to be paid by every content provider on the Internet? Once the ISP's decide they can collect at both ends on one type of application, what's to stop them from asking for money from every web site and every Internet-based service you want to access (or at least the popular and profitable ones)? Now please note that I have so far not addressed the issue of access charges that may come into play when a VoIP provider hands calls off to the PSTN. That is an entirely separate issue, and in regard to that, I'm hoping that sooner or later everyone goes to a "bill and keep" system because I think we are at, or getting very close to the point where the cost of metering a call is more than the cost of transporting the call (and the more that VoIP replaces circuit-switched telephony, the more true that will be). But there are many Internet applications that use as much or more bandwidth than VoIP and to single out VoIP as somehow not deserving of bandwidth or getting a "free ride" when all those other applications do exactly the same thing is totally ridiculous. If someone wants to complain about high bandwidth applications in general that's one thing, but it seems to me that VoIP is a lot more useful (and a lot less frivolous) than many of the other bandwidth-consuming apps out there. Jack Decker ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: VoIP Analogy Organization: Looking for work Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 17:38:16 -0400 In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote: > Someone explained how VoIP (voice over Internet) isn't paying > its share of the costs by the following analogy. Not knowing > much about this, I'll leave it others to judge its validity. > Imagine two grocery stores, A & B, located across a street from > each other. > "A" sells soda pop at 50c a can on a shelf. "B" sells chilled > soda pop from a refrigerated display case at 75c a can. It was > found that customers seeking a chilled soda would buy it from "A" > at 50c, then go over and put it in the refrigerator at "B" to > cool it. Thus, "B" ended up selling its competitor's product -- > and extra expense -- but without the revenue. This seems like a very flawed analogy. First, B could charge for use of a refrigerator (how many grocery stores really allow people to come in and put random products in the fridge?). Second, chilled soda is a value-added product, and the value is in time -- you don't have to wait for the soda to cool down (who wants to buy a can of soda and wait an hour to drink it?). > Our telecom director emphasizes that the Internet is NOT free, and > VoIP represents an additional expense. Just because the end consumer > pays a flat rate (or nothing at all in the case of employees) doesn't > mean that a service is free. In what way is VoIP an "additional" expense? If you're calling another VoIP user, it's just an Internet-based application, and it's no more additional than HTTP or SMTP is. If you're calling someone with a POTS phone, you eventually have to go through a gateway run by your VoIP provider; they have to pay for those phone lines, and they charge their customers for the privilege of using them. They purchase these lines in bulk at a flat rate, and can then pass that flat rate on to their customers. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ From: dannykewl Subject: New to Voip, Can I Use Workgroup Hub Instead of Router? Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 02:08:20 -0400 Organization: Cox Communications Hi, I'm a complete noob at this, and hope this isn't one of those questions that come up "too much". I have cable broadband (Cox Cable Ohio), and a Pentium 4 w/ Win XP Pro. I just ordered phone service via www.packet8.net, seems like a great deal for $20 a month. They say I need a router, but provide the DTA (?) adapter to plug a normal phone into the system. I'm waiting for the DTA adaptor to arrive. Years ago I bought a used PC from a friend, and I was given a bunch of extra goodies with it, and included was a Linksys EW5HUB 5 Port Workgroup Hub. It has an Uplink connection, and 5 "ports"' all which look like they take that oversize type phone connector. I got a bunch of cables with it, but never used it for anything. My question is, can I use this instead of having to buy a router? Or will I still need a router to have 2 outputs to get Net and phone? If not, is the hub of any value, say to let me share my cable Internet connection with another pc? Thanks much, Dan [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That is exactly what I was doing when I first started with Vonage. Except I had a Linksys combination 'hub' and router. I had all my computers hooked together through this network arrangement (which by coincidence, Microsoft also called 'Workgroup'). I used one of the idle, extra ports or sockets on this 'hub' to attach my (then) Cisco ATA box and telephone. You need to make certain the TA device can see through any firewalls you have and can look around the (outside, wide area) net to find the company you are using, which I think you said was 'Packet8'. As long as the TA box can see outside, and outside can see it, then it should work okay. Where my trouble came up was when the computers, doing their daily duties began to contend for the bandwidth with little Vonage. They would shove it out of the way when they wanted to FTP a large image file every ten or fifteen seconds. So I wound up having to swap out my obsolete Cisco ATA box for one of Vonage's newer models, a Motorola MTA box. By that point I had also swapped out my Linksys hub/router/firewall combination for a NetGear combination of the same thing. But the problems continued, with Vonage getting shoved out of the way when the Win98 or Win2000 (or even the little Win95) wanted to do its thing. But the Motorola MTA acts like a stop and go traffic signal, making the big guys wait their turn when the Vonage is out there speaking. It appears to sit at the head of the line and in effect serves as my internal network, of which the Netgear (and its various computers) are like a sub-net under it. However you arrange yours, make sure the TA can see the outside net and vice versa. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John Mayson Subject: Re: The GMail Saga Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 23:00:37 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com > I enjoyed Brad's article. Especially exposing the pieces I don't > think about. I have Google email. I don't click on the adsense ads > in GMail or in standard Google searches because they cost those folks > money. They hope to make some money when I click through and buy > something, but I feel guilty clicking on one when I know I'm probably > not going to buy based on that link. I enjoyed the article for the same reasons. I haven't seen any ads yet. I assumed that would turn on when the service went live. > John's comment about lack of signature caught me off guard. I hadn't > even noticed. I wonder which of John's comments have been forwarded > to the suggestion team at GMail? It isn't a public service yet. It > is only open by invitation, and each Google employee is limited in > their number of invitations. The bugs that I've noted have been fixed > almost immediately. The suggestions that haven't been implemented > have been answered with personalized explanations. Oddly, the bug > fixes are sometimes not acknowledged, just fixed. Yes, I passed them along and got a quick response which did appear to be canned. I could be wrong. (I usually am ;-) I still don't know how I "qualified" for an account. I guess I can thank Pat! He mentioned blogging and as a result I revived by Blogger account. It was through this Blogger account that I was offered the account. > I use GMail. I won't do the personal things there that I might do on > my home email, because I consider mail storage with a million users a > much more attractive safe to crack than my home PC. I'll just hide > over here, thanks. But for general chatting about the weather, and > transferring large files, it's a pretty cool deal. I'm using it the same way. I moved my YahooGroups to my GMail account. I figure that is public information anyway, there's little harm to using GMail. I did send a few messages to friends basically saying, "Nah, nah, na-nah, nah, I have a GMail and you-u-u-u don't!" Okay, I wasn't that childish. But some of them are jealous. ;-) I would never use GMail for banking. I don't mind using it for mailing lists and general chatter. I do have some mail files I wouldn't mind uploading to GMail if that were possible. It's benign stuff and GMail would be a good place to store them. But I prefer to hide and encrypt on my own computer (PDA actually). John Mayson Austin, Texas, USA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wish someone would offer me a GMail account. Can you use POP to get into it and read it from other sites, for example. I suppose not, because then you would miss the advertising they do. Still, it sounds like a reasonable deal. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 16:04:53 -0700 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing On Mon, 26 Apr 2004, J Kelly wrote: > Unless you are primarily watching 16:9 programming, I would stick with > 4:3. The writing is on the wall long-term for 4:3 TV programming. I would not yet recommend replacing a working 4:3 set with a 16:9 set yet (the prices are still a bit high) but I would certainly not recommend buying a premium 4:3 set today. > My dad bought a 16:9 and it is terribly annoying to watch 99.5% > of programming on that thing, it squashes the picture to make it wider > so everyone looks 25 lbs overweight. That's due to how he has the TV set up. A 16:9 TV typically has four modes when displaying 4:3 programming: . "full" or "wide" - this is the annoying behavior you saw . "justify" - the center is in normal proportion but the edges are stretched out even more than "full". Many people find this less obnoxious than "full". . "zoom" - the top and bottom are cropped, filling the screen in natural proportion at the cost of losing some picture. This is good for watching widescreen programming that has been letterboxed in 4:3. . "4:3" or "vertical fit" - this leaves grey or black bars at each side, thus displaying a normal 4:3 picture. This is what videophiles tend to prefer. If your TV allows grey bars, this is better on the phosphors than black. Generally, a TV automatically displays 16:9 programming in "full" mode even when you have the setup mode set to 4:3. This is also the case when there is 1080i input to the TV (e.g. HDTV). -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 17:57:02 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.NONOcom On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 10:04:51 -0500, J Kelly wrote: > Unless you are primarily watching 16:9 programming, I would stick with > 4:3. My dad bought a 16:9 and it is terribly annoying to watch 99.5% > of programming on that thing, it squashes the picture to make it wider > so everyone looks 25 lbs overweight. PC Magazine just did an article > on TV displays and they recommend 4:3 for most people unless they have > a compelling reason to need 16:9. I really thought I wanted > widescreen until I watched my dad's set for a couple of days. Now I > just plan to buy a bigger 4:3 set, something large enough to still I find myself that watching modern "hi def" programming that uses the aspect ration of 1:78/1 the width of the black letterboxing bars is not very objectionable at all on a TV which is made for 1:33/1 i.e. standard TV. > look okay for the widescreen stuff I do watch (mostly DVD's). remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 Date: 27 Apr 2004 15:00:03 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) In article , J Kelly wrote: > On Sat, 24 Apr 2004 19:45:57 +0000 (UTC), hes@unity.ncsu.edu (Henry E > Schaffer) wrote: >> I'm with Clarence. We are considering replacing our 1987 Sears 27" >> (something around that size) -- and one of our delays is trying to >> decide on what aspect ratio we want or need (4:3 or 16:9). (That's >> another thing which may change in the few years.) > Unless you are primarily watching 16:9 programming, I would stick with > 4:3. My dad bought a 16:9 and it is terribly annoying to watch 99.5% > of programming on that thing, it squashes the picture to make it wider > so everyone looks 25 lbs overweight. This SHOULD NOT be the case and is a matter of misconfiguration. It should just letterbox the image so that there are black bars on either side. PC Magazine just did an article: > on TV displays and they recommend 4:3 for most people unless they > have a compelling reason to need 16:9. I really thought I wanted > widescreen until I watched my dad's set for a couple of days. Now I > just plan to buy a bigger 4:3 set, something large enough to still > look okay for the widescreen stuff I do watch (mostly DVD's). Tell your dad to page through the menus and get his TV set up correctly. This is not the sort of thing anyone should ever have to tolerate. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 21:45:32 -0400 Subject: Qwest Drops Access Fees on 'Pure' VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-5200236.html By Ben Charny CNET News.com Qwest Communications International has stopped levying expensive access charges on Internet phone calls made to its customers. In addition, the phone company plans to charge commercial voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers a cheaper rate for its local services, it announced. With so-called pure VoIP, voice communications completely bypass the traditional phone network and flow entirely over the Internet. Qwest's goal is twofold, said company Senior Vice President Steve Davis. It wants to set a precedent for federal regulators now drafting Net phone policies, and it's hoping that cheaper prices will attract more business from commercial Net phone providers. Full story at: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-5200236.html How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 08:29:36 -0400 Subject: Qwest to Forgo Link-up Fee For Some Web Phone Calls Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001913535_qwestnetcalls27.html By Scott Lanman Bloomberg News WASHINGTON Qwest said it won't bill other carriers for fees of about a half-cent per minute to connect callers who use a high-speed Internet connection to reach Qwest local-telephone customers. Qwest, the fourth-largest U.S. local-telephone company, said in a statement that it is urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt similar rules nationally. Denver-based Qwest is using the policy in its local-service territory, which covers 14 Western states, including Washington. Qwest is the only one of the four regional-phone carriers known as Baby Bells to adopt such a stance. The move comes as Internet-phone startups such as Vonage increasingly take customers from local carriers, who are also starting to offer similar services, as Qwest has done. The move won't have a big financial effect on the company because less than 1 percent of Qwest's call-connection fees come from Internet-phone services, Qwest Senior Vice President Steven Davis said. The company collects several hundred million dollars annually in total fees, said Davis, who couldn't immediately provide a precise number. "We're trying to set this policy here at the beginning," Davis said in an interview. The policy would speed the spread of so-called Voice-over-Internet-Protocol, or VoIP, services, and would benefit customers, the industry and Qwest, the company said. Full story at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001913535_qwestnetcalls27.html ------------------------------ From: dellrich@eastlink.ca (RAH) Subject: Nupoint Messenger 4.7 Date: 27 Apr 2004 06:54:19 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Trying to get our Mitel voicemail to send a notification page on receipt of a message. System will dial out, but not send the dtmf tones once the pager line picks up. Is there some special code required for this? ------------------------------ From: brettlist@nemeroff.com (Brett N) Subject: LERG and NXX Routing Question Date: 27 Apr 2004 08:09:01 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi All, I'm hoping someone can answer a "simple" LERG question for me. I'm simply tring to build my routing tables so that I know what tandem to send what traffic to. I'm tring to route both Local and IntraLata Toll Traffic, which of the following fields in LERG 7 SHA should I use to indicate the proper homing tandem for this type of traffic: 7. Originating Feature Group B Tandem 8. Originating Feature Group C Tandem 9. Originating Feature Group D Tandem 10. Originating Operator Services Tandem 11. Originating FG B Intermediate Tandem 12. Originating FG C Intermediate Tandem 13. Originating FG D Intermediate Tandem 14. Originating Local Tandem 15. Originating IntraLATA Tandem 16. Orig. Circuit Switched Data Tandem 17. filler 18. Terminating Feature Group B Tandem 19. Terminating Feature Group C Tandem 20. Terminating Feature Group D Tandem 21. Terminating Operator Services Tandem 22. Terminating FG B Intermediate Tandem 23. Terminating FG C Intermediate Tandem 24. Terminating FG D Intermediate Tandem 25. Terminating Local Tandem 26. Terminating IntraLATA Tandem 27. Term. Circuit Switched Data Tandem 28. filler 29. Host Thanks, Brett ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 11:00:23 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast Releasing its Own Set-Top Box SATELLITE RIVALS GET COMPETITION By Sam Diaz Mercury News After raising rates twice in a year and watching customers flee to the competition, Comcast thinks it has a new cable television box that customers will want -- and will never want to give up. The box won't be widely available until the end of the year, but the news that Comcast is preparing to offer a state-of-the-art entertainment system through a set-top box should grab the attention of satellite TV providers DirecTV and Dish Network, as well as San Jose's TiVo. Comcast is expected to announce today that it will test the Moxi Media Center, offering TV viewers enough features to make DirecTV's TiVo box and Dish Network's own DVR look primitive. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/8521855.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 11:03:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: NAB Wrap-Up From Broadcasting & Cable , April 26, 2004 By Ken Kerschbaumer There is the power of positive thinking -- and the power of positive products. For the nearly 98,000 attendees at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas, new technology fueled high spirits. After all, the industry has been hurt in recent years by a poor economy and broadcasters' preoccupation with DTV and HDTV transmission. Today, the DTV transmission transition is largely over. More than 1,200 broadcasters air digital signals. For manufacturers of cameras, switchers, editing systems, and graphics tools, that spells renewed interest in their gear as stations prepare for the next phase of the DTV transition: HDTV production. The one clear message on the NAB show floor was that high-definition equipment is here-and it's cost-effective. http://www.freepress.net/news/article.php?id=3277 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 11:04:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Under Assault: Cable is About to Get Whacked > From Broadcasting & Cable , April 26, 2004 By John Higgins Cable is about to get whacked. For years, cable networks exploited their immunity from the indecency restrictions that broadcast networks face, luring audience with edgier fare. Now Congress, the FCC, and advocacy groups are plotting a new assault on the cable industry. And networks like MTV, HBO, Comedy Central, and FX fear that the ride is coming to an end. Indecency critics-successful at clamping down on the broadcast networks-are trying to crack down on all television. Key critics-from FCC Chairman Michael Powell to House Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) to groups like the Parents Television Council-see no difference between broadcast and cable television and are calling for new, toughened standards. http://www.freepress.net/news/article.php?id=3276 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 08:31:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Reports First-Quarter Revenue Growth of 3.9% Verizon Reports First-Quarter Revenue Growth of 3.9%, Including Industry-Leading Wireless Revenue Growth of $1.1 Billion - Apr 27, 2004 07:25 AM (PR Newswire) Company Posts Record Gains in DSL Lines, Continued Double-Digit Revenue Growth in Long-Distance, Solid Operating Income Margins First-Quarter Highlights * Verizon Wireless: Industry-leading first-quarter record of 1.4 million total net customer additions (1.2 million retail net additions), up 66.5 percent from last year's quarter; customers total nearly 39 million; lowest churn in industry; record-high revenue growth of 21.2 percent and operating income margin of 19.5 percent * Broadband DSL (digital subscriber lines): Company-record 345,000 net additions; nearly 2.7 million total lines * Long-Distance: 13.3 percent growth in revenues; 1.0 million net lines added in quarter; 17.6 million total lines * Total Company: 3.9 percent growth in operating revenues; 43 cents in fully diluted earnings per share, or 58 cents per share before special items (non-GAAP measure); operating income margin of 14.6 percent, or adjusted operating income margin of 20.4 percent excluding pension/other post-retirement benefit (OPEB) expense (non-GAAP measure) * Total Debt: $44.5 billion; $8.8 billion reduction over 12 months Notes: Growth percentages cited above compare first-quarter 2004 with first-quarter 2003. See the schedules accompanying this news release and www.verizon.com/investor for reconciliations to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for the non-GAAP financial measures mentioned in this announcement. NEW YORK, April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Driven by its highest year-over-year revenue growth in three years, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) today reported first-quarter 2004 earnings per share of 43 cents, or 58 cents per share before special and non-recurring items. For the quarter, Verizon's reported earnings were $1.2 billion. Earnings for the quarter were $1.6 billion before a net of 15 cents per share in special and non-recurring items, primarily for previously announced pension settlements associated with a voluntary separation plan under which more than 21,000 employees left the payroll in the fourth quarter 2003. Revenue Growth Consolidated operating revenues increased 3.9 percent in the first quarter 2004 to $17.1 billion, compared with $16.5 billion in the first quarter 2003. This was Verizon's highest reported quarterly growth rate since the first quarter 2001. Verizon Wireless was the main driver of this increase, posting total revenue growth of 21.2 percent, to $6.2 billion in the first quarter 2004, up $1.1 billion compared with $5.1 billion in the first quarter 2003. Domestic Telecom revenues decreased 3.3 percent to $9.6 billion in the first quarter 2004, compared with the first quarter 2003. Verizon's overall top-line growth was supported by increases in wireline long-distance and broadband. Long-distance revenues increased 13.3 percent, from $0.9 billion in first-quarter 2003 to $1.0 billion in first-quarter 2004, as Verizon added a net of 1.0 million long-distance lines in the quarter, for a total of 17.6 million long-distance lines. In the first quarter, Verizon also added a company-record net of 345,000 DSL lines, for a total of 2.7 million DSL lines. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41176127 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 04:20:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Digital Switch on Target says BBC The BBC has said it is on target to achieve switchover from analogue to digital television by 2010. In its first report on the switchover, the BBC described progress as "astonishing", stating it "puts the UK in an enviable position". But the report to Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell stressed the industry and government must work together if it is to be achieved within the timeframe. It lists a number issues which need addressing to achieve the switchover. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3659895.stm ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #211 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Apr 27 23:57:14 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3S3vE518243; Tue, 27 Apr 2004 23:57:14 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 23:57:14 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404280357.i3S3vE518243@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 #212 TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Apr 2004 23:56:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 212 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Companies Launch War Over Web Messaging (Monty Solomon) Sony's Profit Slides 23 Percent for Year (Monty Solomon) Quick Thinking and Wireless Phone Save Jackson Man's Life (M Solomon) TiVo Will Not Die (Monty Solomon) Web Portal For Sale, Slightly Used (Monty Solomon) NDS CEO Says to Compete With TiVo For DirecTV Deals (Monty Solomon) Re: Book Review: 19th Century Telegraphers (Lisa Hancock) Message Rate Service in Manual Offices (Lisa Hancock) Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 (Miikka Kiprusoff) VOIP Connectivity to Multi Line Key Telephone Systems (agolfer) Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 (Tom Betz) Re: VoIP Analogy (Hank Karl) Help! - AVT Phonexpress Entree Voicemail Info Needed (Mikail) Last Laugh! Message to comp.dcom.telcom moderator (Bush will disarm) 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 are 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: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 15:57:13 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Companies Launch War Over Web Messaging Companies Launch War Over Web Messaging By ANICK JESDANUN AP Internet Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Instant-messaging software has evolved into the latest weapon in a fierce battle among major Internet companies to reap revenues off whatever you do, wherever you go online. Many people spend hours a day with messaging programs active, shooting text to friends and co-workers online. These free products already go well beyond the typed word: People can swap files and chat with webcams and microphones. Now there's even more. On Monday, Yahoo Inc. launched Internet radio and other new services around its messaging software. Microsoft Corp., meanwhile, is leveraging IM as a subscription gaming hub, while America Online Inc. is packaging weather. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41178700 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 16:00:25 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sony's Profit Slides 23 Percent for Year TOKYO (AP) -- Sony Corp. posted a narrower loss for the fourth quarter but its profit dropped 23 percent for the full fiscal year as it accelerated layoffs and its electronics, movie and video-game businesses foundered. The Tokyo-based electronics and entertainment giant said Tuesday it expected earnings would rebound in the current year as cost-cutting efforts make an impact and new products drive sales. In the January-March quarter, Sony's net loss narrowed to 38.2 billion yen ($352 million) from 111 billion yen in the same period a year earlier. Sales rose 7.1 percent to 1.77 trillion yen ($16.3 billion) from 1.65 trillion yen. Sony posted a group net profit of 88.5 billion yen ($815.16 million) for the year ended March 31, down from 115.5 billion yen a year earlier. Sony's once-trendsetting electronics division swung to an operating loss for the year, while its video-game and movie businesses each posted 40 percent declines in operating profit. Group sales edged up 0.3 percent to 7.49 trillion yen ($69.03 billion) for the year from 7.47 trillion yen a year earlier. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41179814 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 15:58:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Quick Thinking and a Wireless Phone Save Jackson Man's Life Cingular Wireless Customer Recognized as 'Wireless Samaritan' at National Ceremony in Washington, D.C. JACKSON, Miss., April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Jeffrey Burns, a Mississippi resident and Cingular Wireless customer, has been selected as one of this year's winners of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association's annual VITA Award. Each year, the wireless telecommunications industry honors individuals whose use of a wireless device resulted in saving a life, preventing a crime or giving heroic support in an emergency. Burns was nominated for this year's VITA Award in August 2003 after being shot at a Jackson, MS, convenience store and using his wireless phone to dial 9-1-1 for help. He will be honored at a ceremony tonight in Washington D.C. where he will have the opportunity to meet with Senator Thad Cochran and other elected officials. First presented in 1993, the VITA Awards are given to individuals who have been nominated by their wireless carriers. These individuals exemplify the importance of putting safety first, and demonstrate the critical role individuals and wireless phones can play in emergency situations. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41179032 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Most of you know that while I am not strictly confined to my home, I can effectively only go some distance from home when a good person chooses to drive me in their car. Walk a block or two, yes; a few miles to a nearby town such as Coffeyville, no. Some of my personal friends think this is silly of me, but it would not occur to me to *possibly endanger them* by not having my cell phone along when we go riding somewhere. My friend Randy drives me down to Tyro, Kansas now and then. Tryo is a tiny town of 250 people on an old back road from Independence, officially County Road 2700. Randy likes to rattle on all the time about 'people who carry cell phones like to think they are big shots', etc. We were coming back from Tyro one night last summer after dark driving down the 'Tyro Cutoff' as it is known, heading for highway 75 to come back home. County Road 2700 is a lot like the Alcan Highway between Fort Nelson BC and further south in the province. A two lane road, mostly deserted all night and maybe you pass one car every thirty minutes in the busy part of the day. And a bad, bumpy mostly gravel road at that. Somewhere in the middle, about five miles north of Tyro and five or six miles south of where highway 75 cuts in, we see a car sitting on the side of the road with its blinker lights on. Randy and I both decided to ask the driver what was wrong. It was an older lady and a young girl, 11-12 years old. The lady told me they had run out of gas; she did not want to set out on foot alone and leave the child alone in the car, so they decided to wait and see if anyone would come along. It turns out she was the girl's grandma. Can I call anyone at your house to come out here to help you? No one was at home, she said. Do you have any other friends you want me to call? She did not know anyone around town; keeping her window rolled up mostly, but down just a crack so we could talk. Can Randy and I give you a ride to your home or anywhere? She thought that was not a good idea. "But if you could drive to a phone and call the sheriff for us we would appreciate that." I told her I would get help for her on my cell phone. Now Montgomery County Sheriff does have 911 (which is in fact answered by City of Independence 911) but the real challenge in a rural, deserted area and 911 (although I just used the Sheriff's 7-D admin number 330-1000) is in describing *exactly where* help is wanted, (approximatly five miles south of Highway 75 on the Tyro Cutoff or County Road 2700, go past the two side roads and across two small bridges and streams.) And have the deputy bring at least a gallon or so of gas. Dispatcher said 'the deputy is on the other side of the county right now, in Liberty (another wide spot in the road) so he will be about twenty minutes in getting there.' The older lady seemed to be grateful that help would be coming. I got back in Randy's car, he pulled a few feet up the road and off to the side, and said 'we will sit here and wait until the sheriff shows up.' Twenty or thirty minutes later, the deputy showed up, with another truck following him which are what we here refer to as 'Minutemen', a group of boy-scout-like young guys who rescue distressed motorists. Randy pulled out and we split. When we pulled into the alley next to my house and I got out, I said to Randy, 'it could have been your mother or wife, or you: out of gas, or flat tire, or radiator boiled over or in a ditch on the road.' He said he was going to seriously re-think his objections to cell phones, and I guess he did. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 16:42:09 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo Will Not Die Despite gloomy news reports, the Digital Video Recorder service will eventually find its niche in the marketplace. By Phillip Swann Washington, DC (April 27) -- It's been a rough week for TiVo, the Digital Video Recorder service. The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press just published lengthy features on how TiVo could be wiped out by DVR services offered by cable TV operators. The New York Times last week wrote a similar, albeit smaller, version of this story. And, TiVo's stock continues to be suffocated by a combination of bad news and scary scenarios. http://www.tvpredictions.com/tivo042704.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 20:26:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Web Portal For Sale, Slightly Used By Jim Hu Staff Writer, CNET News.com Spanish Internet company Terra Lycos has retained investment bank Lehman Brothers to explore a possible sale of its U.S. Internet business, including its flagship Lycos.com Web site, according to a document obtained by CNET News.com. A sale of the unit, which is based in Waltham, Mass., would unwind the $12.5 billion merger of Lycos and Terra Networks, struck in 2000 at the height of the dot-com bubble. Now, with a resurgence of online advertising spending, Terra is seeking a buyer for the Lycos division as it focuses on its Spanish- and Portuguese-language businesses, according to the document, prepared by Lehman Brothers and circulated to prospective buyers over the past several weeks. "An acquisition of Lycos, one of the last available premier Internet search and content properties, represents an outstanding and unique value creation opportunity at a time when advertising budgets are increasing, paid online content is gaining broader acceptance and public markets are favorably rewarding consolidation in the rapidly growing search market," the document reads. Terra Lycos is hoping to sell Lycos for cash or liquid shares. Although no purchase price was listed, one source familiar with the deal said Terra Lycos is looking to sell Lycos for $200 million, based on $98 million in pro-forma revenue that the site generated in 2003. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-5201301.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 20:40:17 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: NDS CEO Says to compete With TiVo For DirecTV Deals NEW YORK, April 27 (Reuters) - NDS Group plc. (NASDAQ:NNDS) plans to compete with TiVo Inc. to supply television recording technology to satellite TV provider DirecTV, which is TiVo's biggest source of new subscribers, NDS's chief executive said on Tuesday. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41185670 Profit falls at media anti-piracy firm NDS - Apr 27, 2004 11:48 AM (Reuters) LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - Anti-piracy technology firm NDS Group Plc (NASDAQ:NNDS), a subsidiary of News Corp (NYSE:NWS), said on Tuesday its third-quarter income fell 38 percent due to the absence of a contract with satellite firm DirecTV. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41185811 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Book Review: 19th Century Telegraphers Date: 27 Apr 2004 13:16:09 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote > I sense that WU, despite having microwave and even satellites, wasn't > that interested in its own wire plant, and leased considerable > circuits from AT&T pretty early on. Perhaps its city wire plant was > old and need of upgrade or replacement but they didn't have the funds > or see a justification in the 1960s. I think I answered my own question: I suspect, per what Wes suggested, that WU wasn't able to serve customers after the 1960s. I am just speculating here, but as data communications got more sophisticated, WU couldn't handle the last mile to the customer as the Bell System could. That is, WU city wire plant may have been great for Baudot or even ASCII speed Teletypes, but grossly inadequate for higher speed communications that evolved in the 1970s. A 100 baud teletype line does not a lot of bandwidth just as a telegraph line uses less than a voice line. In other words, to accomodate good quality voice transmission, a Bell System phone loop had to have more bandwidth. That greater bandwidth allowed the Bell System to offer higher data speeds on plain customer loops when modems were developed, but I don't think WU local customer circuits could handle that. I suspect WU's local circuits were generally older and "dirtier" since they didn't have to worry about things like crosstalk. To get that last mile for modern needs, WU would have to lease circuits from the Bell System. Right then and there, WU was at a disadvantage, obviously the Bell System wasn't gonna give circuit space away for free. Someone suggested the Bell System gave WU a break on rates to keep them going, but I wonder if that remained true by the 1970s; I do know in the 1970s Bell rates were going up sharly for WU forcing an increase in WU customer fees. FWIW, I visited some WU offices in the 1970s and found them looking "tired", that is, they were in need for refurbishment and the people working there looked old and tired, too. Eventually WU closed almost everything in favor of agents since WU employees were well paid union members. > One thing I wonder about is how AT&T dealt with toll charge > complaints, > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: > ... combined with the time-clock stamps of 'up and down' gave a > very good audit trail. Operator started a toll call, time-clock > stamped the paper in; call completed and paper was stamped again, > since all operator positions had a little time-clock as part of them. Every part of the operation is traceable and fixable _except_ the actual time stamping by the operator. What happened if the operator pulled the stamp for the wrong ticket, or forgot to pull the stamp upon disconnect? Certainly operators were highly trained and disciplined, but still when handling a high volume of transactions errors do get made. > then used a 'comptometer' machine to print out the official > bill the customers received. Did you ever hear of the 'Victor Comptom- > eter Company'? Victor Comptometer was on the north side of Chicago > and sold many of those rather large, heavy machines to companies which > did heavy-duty financial stuff. Did Comptometer machines print? I thought they just showed the result through a little window. While other adding machines printed tapes, I thought to print something like a bill you needed an NCR bookkeeping machine which was this huge monstronsity, or an IBM tabulating machine that read cards. Victor Comptometer machines were worked a little differently than traditional adding machines. Operators went to school and could become very proficient, including doing multiplication on an adding machine. > And despite all this, in the old days, customers were always right, > had been misunderstood, etc. Telco wrote off some incredibly large > debts because of 'misunderstandings'. As I understand it, different Bell companies had different policies over the years. While the Bell System was considerably standardized, there were notable differences among different companies, partly due to the region characteristics served, partly due to different state regulations. [I don't know why Philadelphia seemed to always cheaper local service costs* than other cities and towns in the 1960s, for example]. Anyway, as comedian Allan King described it, service reps could sound like the switchboard at "Polly Adlers" (which I'm told was a house of ill repute) and pretty flexible about adjusting bills. But other times (or places) they could be as tough as an army boot camp seargent. I've dealt with both over the years. I suspect that if the local Bell company was not making enough money, it would order less flexibility on bills; but if the local Bell company had a bad P/R rap, it would try to be nicer. I'm pretty sure the Bell System ran in cycles with that sort of thing. In Philadelphia, the cost of a city flat rate line seemed much cheaper than other places, as was the cost of local message units and extension rentals. We paid 90c for an extension while other places paid $1.10, about 6 or 7c a message unit while others paid 8 or 9c, and had a bigger free calling area. I think some towns might not even had flat rate service or untimed local calls. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock Subject: Message Rate Service in Manual Offices Date: 27 Apr 2004 13:24:03 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com In the 1950s and earlier, telephone service was seen as expensive, and many people ordered the cheapest option available, if they even had a phone at all. For many, that was message rate service (pay per call) on a party line. When dial was introduced, it was easy to add a meter for each line to count up calls. For suburban calls from cities in panel offices, the meters were used to add up "message units" which accumulated based on time and distance. This was a big step since it meant that such calls didn't have to be manually handled by a toll operator and the associated ticket generation (see Pat's description for what that entailed). [Message units, now called measured service, is still in use to this day.] Anyway, I'm told my family always had message rate (also known as "limited") service even in manual days. The Bell System history doesn't explain billing for local calls. How did the manual operator, such as at a city "A"* board, bill for message rate service? We know the switchboards were pretty sophisticated by the 1920s with automatic ringing and the like, perhaps they had meters automatically updated. I can't see operators writing down every single local call coming through, that would be too cumbersome. Would anyone know if they had message rate service in cities under manual switchboards? If so, how was it tracked? *In busy places, switchboards were divided into A and B. The A operator took the call and connected you to only the exchange you desired, even if it was the home exchange. The B operator at the specific exchange was told the specific number, and plugged you into that number. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 14:42:38 +0100 From: Miikka Kiprusoff Subject: Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 Reply-To: miikka@calgaryweb.net J Kelly wrote about Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 on Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 10:04:51 -0500: > Unless you are primarily watching 16:9 programming, I would stick with > 4:3. My dad bought a 16:9 and it is terribly annoying to watch 99.5% > of programming on that thing, it squashes the picture to make it wider > so everyone looks 25 lbs overweight. PC Magazine just did an article > on TV displays and they recommend 4:3 for most people unless they have > a compelling reason to need 16:9. I really thought I wanted > widescreen until I watched my dad's set for a couple of days. Now I > just plan to buy a bigger 4:3 set, something large enough to still > look okay for the widescreen stuff I do watch (mostly DVD's). Either your Dad bought a very, very crappy TV, or neither of you have figured out what that little booklet that came with it is for. Despite it's title, "Manual" is not a Spanish story about a young man's journey of self discovery. Among the varied instructions contained therein will be those that direct you to disable this "fat" mode. Result: you get a 4:3 picture centered in the middle of the 16:9 widescreen display, with (typically) gray or black bars down the left and right side where the rest of the 16:9 picture would be (if it were 16:9, which it ain't). On my Sony, the various modes are called: "normal" - this is what you want "full" - this is what you've set the TV to use, and causes the "fat" picture. I agree: this looks like hell. "zoom" - zooms the picture so that it is now as wide as the TV, but does not change the aspect ratio. This means the top and bottom of the image is cropped off - which is handy if that CNN "crawl" bugs you. :-) "wide zoom" - a combination of "full" and "zoom". The picture is a little bit stretched to widen it, and a little bit zoomed to fill. There's only a bit of image lost at top and bottom, and the people on the screen are only a little bit fatter than they should be. Of course, all of this goes out the window when you're watching an actual 16:9 presentation. ------------------------------ From: dave@ces-hawaii.com (agolfer) Subject: VOIP Connectivity to Multi Line Key Telephone Systems Date: 27 Apr 2004 13:50:16 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have a multi-line key telephone system in my office. It is not VOIP compatible. Is there a way that I can use VOIP services from providers like Vonage for voice/fax? From what I see on Vonage's website, it seems to imply that their telephone adapter box will port out analog voice circuit(s) that I could connect to CO line ports on my KSU. From what I've read in this forum, the adapter provides two phone circuits, however, it can only handle one voice connection at a time. Does anyone have any experience in using Vonage or other VOIP service on a multi-line key telephone system? Aloha, Dave [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As long as you *know how* (or have a technician on staff who knows how to wire multi-line phones), Vonage (and I assume net8 and Pulver/FWD and others) will work on it just fine. No one ever screws around with the innards on a Bell five line/ six-button with hold for example. The work is always done at the terminal box by punch-downs on the terminals inside. But Vonage does not care; it can make an 'appearance' on a line button as well as on a single-line instrument. I cannot predict how the 'hold circuit' would work (if the Vonage line was being 'held') or the reliability of the interuppter/annunciator notifing you of a call. I would suppose since Vonage at least has a REM-3 status, the current therein is probably sufficient to do all those ancillary tasks as well. And one of my e-coupon takers did link his Vonage line over to a 'dial 9' level trunk on a very tiny residential PBX and he said that it works fine as well. Dialing 9 on the little PBX is just like lifting the receiver on the phone connected to the Vonage. Dial tone works fine, he uses any phone on his system to dial out through Vonage. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tom Betz Subject: Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 22:05:41 UTC Organization: XOme Quoth J Kelly in news:telecom23.210.5@telecom- digest.org: > My dad bought a 16:9 and it is terribly annoying to watch 99.5% > of programming on that thing, it squashes the picture to make it wider > so everyone looks 25 lbs overweight. Sounds to me like it's misconfigured. He should be able to set it so a properly-formatted picture is located in the center of the screen, with black panels on either side. "I am afeard there are few die well that die in a battle; for how can they charitably dispose of anything when blood is their argument? Now, if these men do not die well, it will be a black matter for the King that led them to it; who to disobey were against all proportion of subjection." - W.S. ------------------------------ From: Hank Karl Subject: Re: VoIP Analogy Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 20:06:17 -0400 Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/ On 26 Apr 2004 09:32:30 -0700, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote: > Someone explained how VoIP (voice over Internet) isn't paying > its share of the costs by the following analogy. Not knowing > much about this, I'll leave it others to judge its validity. > Imagine two grocery stores, A & B, located across a street from > each other. > "A" sells soda pop at 50c a can on a shelf. "B" sells chilled > soda pop from a refrigerated display case at 75c a can. It was > found that customers seeking a chilled soda would buy it from "A" > at 50c, then go over and put it in the refrigerator at "B" to > cool it. Thus, "B" ended up selling its competitor's product -- > and extra expense -- but without the revenue. VoIP works over _your_ broadband connection. So the analogy is more like "you buy soda from 'A' and put it into _your own_ refrigerator". If you call a PSTN subscriber, then they will have paid for their line. A similar analogy for the guy on the PSTN line would be "regardless of whether you buy soda from 'A' or 'B', you still have to pay more to some third party" > Our telecom director emphasizes that the Internet is NOT free, and > VoIP represents an additional expense. Just because the end consumer > pays a flat rate (or nothing at all in the case of employees) doesn't > mean that a service is free. Some of the costs are: 1. You need more bandwith, and better bandwidth (i.e. VoIP requires less delay and jitter than data will tolerate). 2. You need a VoIP service provider. 3. You need to invest the money in IT for training, support and test equipment, as well as buying the basic VoIP gear. 4. If your VoIP call quality is not toll-quality, there are a lot of "soft" costs, like company image, customers who are not completely happy, etc. > The consumers putting soda in a frige to cool it think it isn't > costing anything, but it really is, especially when adding up many > consumers. It cost money to buy my fridge, and the electricity to run it costs more. But (I think) its cheaper to run my fridge than to buy the cold soda. If someone else wants to cool their soda in my fridge, they'd better buy me a beer first :-) A cold beer :-) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And I still have Vonage e-coupons available for anyone that wants to try a month of Vonage (the second month) totally free. You order whatever kind of Vonage service you wish, pay for the first month and the adapter thing, then you get the second month of the same free with my e-coupon. Write me not-for pub and ask for one. ptownson@telecom-digest.csail.mit.edu PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mikail Subject: HELP! - AVT Phonexpress Entree Voicemail Info Needed Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 01:24:56 GMT I just acquired a Toshiba DK424 pbx with an attached AVT Phonexpress Entree voicemail system with no docs/disks for the voicemail. This obviously is an obsolete system but if it solves my voicemail requirements I would like to get it functioning. The AVT boots up w/ OS2 to a status screen but I have no idea where to go from there. Any help/hints would be appreciated. Thanks, Mikail ------------------------------ From: dakshing64@yahoo.com (Bush will disarm all workers next) Subject: Last Laugh! Message to comp.dcom.telecom moderator Date: 27 Apr 2004 14:47:36 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here is a very moving message I received today. So moving, in fact, I may decide to move all my computers out to the trash can, since Thursday is our next garbage pick up day. His spelling and puncutation and grammar remain unchanged. PAT] To the comp.dcom.telcom moderator: I was enquiring about blocking factors in paging service or in general the %ge of dropped pages. Is there a reason why you didn't forward it to the newsgroup? It's a shame you don't want to deal with QoS in wishyes USA. Perhaps you want everyone to think it is hunky dory with telcom in wishyes USA. Do you have any idea about the attrition in telcom? This is an unreal newsgroup with a bunch of old farts talking about their conquests and ignoring their failures. I hope you get a *REAL JOB* Dakshin cross-posting to soc.culture.usa, soc.culture.indian, soc.culture.british [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you for your kind remarks, Dakshin. It does all of us good to be abused once in awhile, including myself. As I tried to explain to you in private email, *if your email got here* then it was published here. You would have first gotten an auto-ack receipt for it. If you got an auto-ack then my internal controls on email allow me to find it if it gets lost, mutilated or otherwise unreconstructable, in which case I would have sent you a form notice apologizing for my clumsiness and asking for you to restate what it was you were saying. Oh, and by the way, tomorrow and Thursday are 'share day' this month. Please consider helping. Thanks agan, Dakshin. PAT] 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. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management (MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35 credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including data, video, and voice networks. The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum. Classes are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning. Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at 405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at http://www.mstm.okstate.edu ************************ In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V23 #212 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Apr 28 15:46:09 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3SJk8526512; Wed, 28 Apr 2004 15:46:09 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 15:46:09 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404281946.i3SJk8526512@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 #213 TELECOM Digest Wed, 28 Apr 2004 15:45:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 213 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Network Security Essentials", Wlm Stallings (Rob Slade) Wheat Wireless Services Introduces Wireless Voice (VOIP News) S&P Cautions Bells on VOIP (VOIP News) IDT Uses Wi-Fi to Offer Cheaper Cell Service (VOIP News) How VoIP Can Connect the Disabled (VOIP News) Re: VOIP Connectivity to Multi Line Key Telephone Systems (Hank Karl) Re: VOIP Connectivity to Multi Line Key Telephone Systems (Scott Dorsey) Re: VOIP Connectivity to Multi Line Key Telephone Systems (Jeff Spidle) Re: 19th Century Telegraphers (jhaynes) Re: HELP! - AVT Phonexpress Entree Voicemail Info Needed (Dave Phelps) Evading the National Do-Not-Call List (Bob Hofkin) Cell Phones For Soldiers (jmayson@nyx.net) Share Day for April (TELECOM Digest Editor) 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 are 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 08:58:48 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Network Security Essentials", William Stallings BKNTSCES.RVW 20031210 "Network Security Essentials", William Stallings, 2000, 0-13-016093-8, U$48.00/C$75.81 %A William Stallings ws@shore.net %C One Lake St., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 %D 2000 %G 0-13-016093-8 %I Prentice Hall %O U$48.00/C$75.81 201-236-7139 fax: 201-236-7131 %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0130160938/robsladesinterne http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0130160938/robsladesinte-21 %O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0130160938/robsladesin03-20 %P 366 p. %T "Network Security Essentials: Applications and Standards" The existence of this book is a bit odd, particularly in view of the fact that it shares so much material with Stallings' "Cryptography and Network Security." The (clear and structured) preface, however, states that the intent is to provide a practical survey of network security applications and standards, particularly those in widespread use. As with the earlier work, this book is intended to serve both as a textbook for an academic course of study, and as a self-study and reference guide for practicing professionals. There is reduced detail in regard to cryptography. Chapter one is an introduction, and provides a good list of basic concepts and vocabulary. It may not be completely apparent to all readers that the emphasis is on threats to data transmissions and there is limited review of attacks on functioning systems. Part one deals with cryptography. Chapter two covers symmetric block ciphers in fundamental but sound terms, illustrated by an explanation of DES (Data Encryption Standard). The logic is heavily symbolic at times, but that should not be an impediment to the reader. It is interesting that chapter three views asymmetric cryptography as an extension of message authentication codes, but the explanations are articulate, including both algebraic and numeric examples, although the numeric illustrations could be fuller. Part two deals with network security applications. Chapter four looks at authentication applications, concentrating on Kerberos and X.509. The examples of email security systems given in chapter five are PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) and S/MIME (Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension). Security provisions for the Internet Protocol (IP) itself are reviewed in chapter six. Web security, in chapter seven, discusses SET (Secure Electronic Transaction) and SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). Chapter eight reviews SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) both in terms of network management for security purposes, and in regard to cryptography for authentication of the application itself. Part four outlines general system security. Intruders and malicious software are lumped together in chapter nine, with a reasonable outline of the types of malware, but not dealing as well with viruses themselves. (Activity Monitors are referred to as "third generation" tools, when they actually predate both signature scanners ["first generation"] and heuristics ["second generation"].) Chapter ten finishes off the book with a description of firewalls, but has a rather odd inclusion of basic access control and trusted systems. Each chapter ends with a set of recommended readings and problems. Many chapters also have appendices giving additional details of specific topics related to the subject just discussed. A very reasonable guide, although possibly less practical than it intended to be. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2003 BKNTSCES.RVW 20031210 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca rslade@sun.soci.niu.edu Doing evil is nothing but turning away from learning. - Augustine (354-430), On Free Choice of the Will http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 21:25:53 -0400 Subject: S&P Cautions Bells on VOIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=50994 S&P Cautions Bells on VOIP A broad warning issued last week by credit rating service Standard & Poor's has cast a lingering dark cloud over regional Bell companies (RBOCs). It's also raised new questions about VOIP regulation. S&P says RBOCs stand to lose about $5 billion in annual revenues if regulators make voice-over-IP providers exempt from federal and state access fees. RBOCs currently rely on carrier access fees for about 22 percent of their total operating revenues, or about $20 billion. In its estimate, S&P assumed RBOCs will lose about 15 percent of residential access lines with average monthly bills of $24 each to cable companies, independent carriers, and long-haul carriers that offer VOIP service. Loss of local lines would account for about four-fifths of the $5 billion shortfall, and loss of access fees would make up the rest. The overall loss could be mitigated by VOIP providers' recurring payments to RBOCs for local connectivity services such as ISDN primary rate interface or toll-free 800 service. On the other hand, the loss could soar beyond $5 billion if VOIP providers use leased facilities to terminate large volumes of long-distance calls. The issue hinges partly on whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), states, and courts require VOIP carriers to pay access fees to RBOCs for VOIP traffic transmitted over, or terminated on, the RBOC's networks. Full story at: http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=50994 How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 11:27:20 -0400 Subject: IDT Uses Wi-Fi to Offer Cheaper Cell Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2004-04-21-idt-wifi_x.htm By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY Believe it or not, 43% of U.S. consumers still don't have a cell phone, many for budget reasons. Now, long-distance company IDT is aiming at low- to moderate-income holdouts with a new breed of inexpensive service that offers mobile service but only in certain areas. IDT plans to introduce a semi-mobile phone service that works in areas equipped with Wi-Fi, a popular wireless technology linked to the Internet. The strategy could pose at least a modest threat to the big wireless carriers as it marries two hot new technologies: Wi-Fi and Internet-based phone service. The service price will be no more than $2 a month, with calls costing less than 5 cents a minute; initially, customers will likely prepay. Unlike with cell phones, incoming calls are free. While IDT initially will give away the phones equipped with Wi-Fi chips, they will eventually cost about $100. Full story at: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2004-04-21-idt-wifi_x.htm ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 01:12:32 -0400 Subject: How VoIP Can Connect the Disabled Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2004/tc20040428_4395_tc116.htm Internet-based telephony holds great promise for allowing the blind and deaf to communicate much better and become more productive Don Barrett's phone is his best assistant at work. Barrett, who's blind, has a phone that uses spoken voice to let him know who the caller is or to read to him the messages people leave when he misses a call. He can even use voice commands to tell his phone to find a number in his electronic Rolodex. None of these tasks are possible with a traditional phone, but Barrett is ahead of the game. He's using a PC-based phone that runs on voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) technology. With some extra software, he can also hear his e-mail and voice mail from the Internet. At his job as assistive-technology specialist at the U.S. Education Dept., Barrett says the VoIP gear has greatly improved his performance. "I can decide whether to take a call. For me, that's huge." While VoIP is creating quite a stir in the telecommuncations field overall (see BW Online, 1/6/04, "Finally, 21st Century Phone Service"), it's an especially promising technology for people with disabilities. VoIP integrates the phone, voice mail, audioconferencing, e-mail, instant messaging, and Web applications like Microsoft Outlook on one secure, seamless network. Plus, workers can use their PC, laptop, or handheld as a VoIP phone from virtually anywhere, with the same phone number, which benefits telecommuters, including those whose mobility is impaired and must work from home. Full story at: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2004/tc20040428_4395_tc116.htm ------------------------------ From: Hank Karl Subject: Re: VOIP Connectivity to Multi Line Key Telephone Systems Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 10:55:10 -0400 Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/ One issue with this is lightning protection. Your KSU will isolate the incoming lines from its handset, and (one hopes) the other phone sets. It may not isolate one incoming line from another. Thus, if you get a lighting strike, you may burn out your VoIP TA (and possibly even more equipment down the (ethernet) line. So you probably should put some sort of external protection on the line. On 27 Apr 2004 13:50:16 -0700, dave@ces-hawaii.com (agolfer) wrote: > I have a multi-line key telephone system in my office. It is not VOIP > compatible. Is there a way that I can use VOIP services from > providers like Vonage for voice/fax? From what I see on Vonage's > website, it seems to imply that their telephone adapter box will port > out analog voice circuit(s) that I could connect to CO line ports on > my KSU. > From what I've read in this forum, the adapter provides two phone > circuits, however, it can only handle one voice connection at a time. > Does anyone have any experience in using Vonage or other VOIP service > on a multi-line key telephone system? > Aloha, > Dave > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As long as you *know how* (or have a > technician on staff who knows how to wire multi-line phones), Vonage > (and I assume net8 and Pulver/FWD and others) will work on it just > fine. No one ever screws around with the innards on a Bell five line/ > six-button with hold for example. The work is always done at the > terminal box by punch-downs on the terminals inside. But Vonage does > not care; it can make an 'appearance' on a line button as well as on a > single-line instrument. I cannot predict how the 'hold circuit' would > work (if the Vonage line was being 'held') or the reliability of the > interuppter/annunciator notifing you of a call. I would suppose since > Vonage at least has a REM-3 status, the current therein is probably > sufficient to do all those ancillary tasks as well. And one of my > e-coupon takers did link his Vonage line over to a 'dial 9' level > trunk on a very tiny residential PBX and he said that it works fine as > well. Dialing 9 on the little PBX is just like lifting the receiver on > the phone connected to the Vonage. Dial tone works fine, he uses any > phone on his system to dial out through Vonage. PAT] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: VOIP Connectivity to Multi Line Key Telephone Systems Date: 28 Apr 2004 13:34:00 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) agolfer wrote: > I have a multi-line key telephone system in my office. It is not VOIP > compatible. Is there a way that I can use VOIP services from > providers like Vonage for voice/fax? From what I see on Vonage's > website, it seems to imply that their telephone adapter box will port > out analog voice circuit(s) that I could connect to CO line ports on > my KSU. Yes, although you need to know that the Vonage adaptor will not do ground-start, so you need a KSU that can deal with that. > From what I've read in this forum, the adapter provides two phone > circuits, however, it can only handle one voice connection at a time. Right, but you can get multiple adaptors. They may still be available in rackmount form. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ Reply-To: Jeff Spidle From: Jeff Spidle Subject: Re: VOIP Connectivity to Multi Line Key Telephone Systems Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 13:36:59 -0500 I know that connecting a Cisco ATA186 to a key system works. I had to do it for one of my customers Emergency Ops Center. They had an old 1A2 system. The ATA provides battery and ring to the key system identical to what the CO does. They press a line button on the key set and the ATA goes off hook with no problem. Jeff Spidle Greenwich Technology Partners jspidle at greenwichtech dot com agolfer wrote in message news:telecom23.212.10@telecom-digest.org: > I have a multi-line key telephone system in my office. It is not VOIP > compatible. Is there a way that I can use VOIP services from > providers like Vonage for voice/fax? From what I see on Vonage's > website, it seems to imply that their telephone adapter box will port > out analog voice circuit(s) that I could connect to CO line ports on > my KSU. > From what I've read in this forum, the adapter provides two phone > circuits, however, it can only handle one voice connection at a time. > Does anyone have any experience in using Vonage or other VOIP service > on a multi-line key telephone system? > Aloha, > Dave > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As long as you *know how* (or have a > technician on staff who knows how to wire multi-line phones), Vonage > (and I assume net8 and Pulver/FWD and others) will work on it just > fine. No one ever screws around with the innards on a Bell five line/ > six-button with hold for example. The work is always done at the > terminal box by punch-downs on the terminals inside. But Vonage does > not care; it can make an 'appearance' on a line button as well as on a > single-line instrument. I cannot predict how the 'hold circuit' would > work (if the Vonage line was being 'held') or the reliability of the > interuppter/annunciator notifing you of a call. I would suppose since > Vonage at least has a REM-3 status, the current therein is probably > sufficient to do all those ancillary tasks as well. And one of my > e-coupon takers did link his Vonage line over to a 'dial 9' level > trunk on a very tiny residential PBX and he said that it works fine as > well. Dialing 9 on the little PBX is just like lifting the receiver on > the phone connected to the Vonage. Dial tone works fine, he uses any > phone on his system to dial out through Vonage. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Western Union (was Re: Book Review: 19th Century Telegraphers) Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 17:34:57 GMT I don't believe Western Union had much in the way of "last mile" wires except in the largest cities. Elsewhere they had to lease pairs from the telephone company. It's my understanding that when W.U. acquired TWX from the Bell System there was a period of time in which they got to use the Bell wire plant at below-market rates; but when that ended they had to pay the same price as everyone else and that hastened the demise of TWX/Telex. W.U. introduced Telex to the U.S. about 1958. In my opinion this was a major mistake; obviously they thought it was a good idea. It put W.U. into direct competition with Bell, TWX versus Telex; and Bell pretty much had a lock on the local loops needed to furnish the service. Bell also soon after introduced the Data Phone data sets (modems leased from the telephone company) which allowed customers to put any kind of terminal they wanted on the switched network. While telephone toll calls were higher priced than TWX calls, the cost of telephone calls was falling rapidly. Bringing in Telex required W.U. to acquire a lot of electromechanical switching equipment (most if not all of it from Siemens) at a time when electronic switching was about to arrive and push the former off the stage. W.U. also had to acquire a bunch of 50-baud teleprinters, first from Siemens and later from Teletype. Soon after, TWX went from manual switchboards and special circuits to using the existing voice switching plant; and voice was such a major user of the plant that the marginal cost of running TWX over it was quite small. Customers were ill-served since TWX and Telex didn't interconnect (at first) and thus a customer had to subscribe to both services or be cut off from part of their business relations. Then W.U. acquired TWX at a time when the best years of both services were past. I wonder if the executives of either company realized it at the time. W.U. had spent a lot of money on fax for many years but never realized a large payoff from it. There was about to be a new generation of fax machines which blew away the market for TWX/Telex. (Aided considerably by the CarterFone decision) jhhaynes at earthlink dot net ------------------------------ From: Dave Phelps Subject: Re: HELP! - AVT Phonexpress Entree Voicemail Info Needed Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 00:46:46 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com In article , user@teknidat.com.easynews.com says: > I just acquired a Toshiba DK424 pbx with an attached AVT Phonexpress > Entree voicemail system with no docs/disks for the voicemail. This > obviously is an obsolete system but if it solves my voicemail > requirements I would like to get it functioning. The AVT boots up w/ > OS2 to a status screen but I have no idea where to go from there. Any > help/hints would be appreciated. > Thanks, > Mikail AVT made a great voicemail. The entree was a pared down version of the callxpress product, as I recall. After the os2 screen, it should automatically come up to the AVT call processing screen. This will probably take several minutes, while the system rebuilds indexes and databases. It shows on the screen while it's doing this. If for some reason the startup script was removed from the os2 startup.cmd (IIRC) batch file, I don't recall what the executable file is. Seems like it might be px.exe (or cx.exe) ... something like that. With the Toshiba, I believe it used inband integration. The integration digits should be pre-configured on the voicemail. Dave Phelps DD Networks www.ddnets.com deadspam=tippenring ------------------------------ From: Bob Hofkin Subject: Evading the National Do-Not-Call List Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 11:01:09 -0400 [PAT, Please remove my email address from the message. I have more than enough spam as it is.] An outfit called the National Consumer Council (NCC) placed a prerecorded phone call to my home this morning. They were offering a credit repar service. Two little problems: I am on the FTC's do-no-call list, and there was no CLID information provided. The IRS lists NCC as a public charity, so apparently the organization is exempt from the do-not-call list restrictions. I gather that NCC's contributors are a couple of credit repair companies that benefit from referrals; nowhere on their web site (www.thencc.org) did I see any solicitation for contributions from the general public. The NCC phone rep was a little vague on the charitible services they provide. He told me is was "advice." Curious readers may want to contact the organization at 800-990-3990 to inquire further. Bob That's another fine message you've gotten us in. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 10:20:37 -0500 From: jmayson@nyx.net Subject: Cell Phones For Soldiers Organization: Nyx Net, The Spirit of the Night What kind of cellular infrastructure does Iraq have? http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,118397,00.html http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/ Girl Starts 'Cell Phones for Soldiers' Program Most of us can reach our loved ones with the press of a few buttons. But that's not the case for soldiers in Iraq. One soldier from Massachusetts recently rang up a $7,000 cell phone bill that neither he nor his family could pay. But thanks to 13-year-old Brittany Bergquist (search), who with the help of her brother started "Cell Phones for Soldiers," phoning home is now easier for men and women fighting in the war. John Mayson Austin, Texas, USA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Is the war still going on? I was almost certain Dubya Bush had declared the hostilities were over nearly a year ago, sometime around last May. And the past 'interim' period of government is to end on June 30 when Iraq will presume once again to manage its own affairs, unless in the meantime Bush gets any more religious visions and decides to keep the confict going on. Brittany Bergquist has a great idea; but John, you forgot to mention how the rest of us can help. It is a duplication of effort, since the USO (national service people's organization) is also in Iraq with their canteen services (traditional coffee and food and since about 1990 with e-canteen services). While they have coffee or other beverages and sandwhiches/donuts/other food *at no charge* the guys also can use the computers and telephones *at no charge* through arrangements the USO has made with certain telcos -- notably AT&T and Sprint -- and cell phone carriers. Brittany deserves our thanks for her efforts, but I believe it would be better if she were to join forces with USO since that organization already has things in place. If you want to help Brittany you may Google search for her and find out what to do, or likewise USO needs mega-help keeping their e-canteen services up and running, providing email, web-page browsing telephone/VOIP/cell phone service going. The Bush War Against Terrorism (sometimes referred to as his -- err, God's -- War Between the Muslim Nations and the Fundamentalist Christians) isn't scheduled to end at least until the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, or sometime much later. So check with Brittany or the USO, but whatever you do, don't leave our guys just hanging out there with no way to reach *their* friends and family. Its certainly not their fault. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 14:15:00 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Share Day For April Instead of changing the Digest over to an advrtising supported forum, I have always elected to keep it as a user supported forum, and for the most part keep it spam and virus free. I am *only* able to do this because of financial support from readers here, and if you would rather not see these messages every month, then please pitch in and help now and then! Consider it sort of like public radio, which goes on for days at a time trying to raise money ... and maybe I should adopt the same system. Turn over the entire Digest once or twice a year to fund raising (entire issues, etc) and stop doing it when the budget for the year has been raised. But for now, I will stick with the present system of devoting a few messages at the end of each month to raising money for the Digest publication expenses. Out of 400-500 messages per month, in a spam, virus free environment, two or three (only) devoted to fund raising. You know who you are; please provide some help here financially. You can use Pay Pal to donate with a credit/debit card by going to our web site http://telecom-digest.org and at the bottom of the home page look for the PayPal 'donate' button. Or if you prefer, send a check or money order to Patrick Townson/TELECOM, Post Office Box 50, Independence, Kansas 67301-0050. The amount you send is entirely up to you. You know best how much you can afford and whether or not this Digest has any value for you. Thank you very much. Patrick Townson, Editor/Publisher TELECOM Digest ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #213 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Apr 29 14:30:56 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3TIUup07666; Thu, 29 Apr 2004 14:30:56 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 14:30:56 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404291830.i3TIUup07666@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 #214 TELECOM Digest Thu, 29 Apr 2004 14:30:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 214 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Good News! Four Oakland Men Cited in First US Spam Case (Joe Wineburgh) Vonage Vs. AT&T (ilyaburshteyn) VOIP Help Only Getting One Way Audio Conversation (Scott) AT&T Launches VOIP Service (Mau) Packet8 (Method to Madness) Is Anyone Using MCI Business Complete Unlimited (Mail Ias) Powerful Gadgetry: Smart Phones (Mike) VoIP: To Tax or Not to Tax (VOIP News) Missouri Moves to Ban 'UnFees' - Part of Larger Backlash (VOIP News) How to Talk to the FCC (VOIP News) US Senate Panel Eyes Revamping Telecom Laws (VOIP News) April Share Day (TELECOM Digest Editor) 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 are 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Joe Wineburgh Subject: Good News: Four Oakland Cited in First U.S. Spam Case Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 09:43:33 -0400 Not too far from Ralsky's home base ... #JOE http://www.freep.com/money/tech/spam29_20040429.htm Ford, Unisys computers had unwitting role BY MIKE WENDLAND FREE PRESS COLUMNIST Four Oakland County men have become the first people in the nation to face criminal charges of violating the new federal law against sending spam. The four are accused of secretly commandeering computers that forward e-mail for some of the nation's biggest corporations -- including Ford Motor Co. -- to send millions of junk messages advertising herbal supplements, diet patches and sexual enhancement pills and products. Other unwitting companies and agencies whose computers were used include Unisys Corp., Amoco Corp., the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and the U.S. Army Information Center, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit on Wednesday. The charges against the four were to be officially announced at a news conference by the Federal Trade Commission in Washington today. Christopher Chung, 30, and Mark Sadek, 27, both of West Bloomfield, were arraigned in federal court in Detroit on Wednesday. Two others, Daniel and James Lin, believed to be brothers and also from West Bloomfield, were being sought, federal officials said. The four are accused of forging return e-mail addresses on millions of unsolicited advertisements sent across the Internet, often through the use of what are known as open proxy servers, or systems that will relay e-mail from any point on the Internet, owned by unsuspecting businesses and government agencies. The use of proxy servers has long been a trick used by spammers -- who now account for about 60 percent of all e-mail -- to obscure their identity. "This has been a problem that's plagued the Net for years, and the fact that corporations and government agencies still have open mail servers is scandalous," said Tony Robinson, a security consultant for Pioneer Technology in Sterling Heights. "Somebody dropped the ball." The 21-page federal complaint alleges that the Oakland foursome also forged the "from" part of the header that appears at the top of a message, using fake names and bogus e-mail addresses, in violation of the federal CAN-SPAM Act that took effect Jan. 1. They were caught through a wide-ranging investigation that involved U.S. postal inspectors, investigators from the Federal Trade Commission, technology experts from Microsoft and America Online and a network of anti-spam activists stretching across the world. Terrence Berg, the assistant U.S. attorney handling the case, said the government's action shows that there are teeth in the new federal law. "This is just a start," Berg said. "There will be many more prosecutions like this. The government is determined to do something about the flood of spam that is polluting the Internet." Jim Feinberg, an attorney for Sadek, said he wasn't familiar with the details of the case beyond the complaint. He said Sadek earns his living as a valet for a car-parking company and lives with his parents in West Bloomfield. "He's just a hard-working young guy," Feinberg said. Chung and his attorney could not be reached Wednesday. Besides violating the anti-spam law, which is punishable by up to five years in prison, the four are also accused of mail fraud -- which carries a 20-year maximum sentence -- for selling an allegedly fraudulent skin patch for weight loss through junk e-mail. FTC investigators ordered the patch and had it analyzed. Dr. Michael Jensen, identified in the complaint as a Mayo Clinic nutritional expert, was asked to evaluate the claims and said the ingredients in the patch "would not achieve the weight loss as advertised." The group also sent spam advertising penis enlargement pills and Viagra. Unraveling the trail of spam took four months. Berg said that because of the use of proxy servers, trying to trace the spam back to the original sender was difficult. That's where investigators tapped the network of activists who maintain lists of the top spammers around the world and try to get them banned from Internet service providers. It's a cat-and-mouse game. A spammer often can send out millions of junk messages before being detected. But sometimes, anti-spam and security experts scam the spammers. That's what the complaint alleges against the Oakland County men. In Karlsruhe, Germany, an Internet security expert and activist named Anders Henke runs what he calls a "proxy pot," a system that simulates a mail proxy but doesn't actually forward mail. It sits on the Internet, looking vulnerable to the sophisticated scanning software used by spammers to sniff out open proxies. Starting in early January, the complaint says, Henke's proxy pot intercepted 5 million attempts from computer accounts linked to the Michigan men. Berg says other anti-spam activists in the United States assisted in the investigation, too. "There's some very capable and dedicated private citizens out there whose help proved invaluable to us," he said. Besides the criminal charges, the FTC is expected to take action in civil court seeking restraining orders against the men. A preliminary hearing for Sadek and Chung will be held May 18 in federal court in Detroit. They were freed on $10,000 unsecured bond after arraignment before Federal Magistrate Mona Majzoub. Contact MIKE WENDLAND at 313-222-8861 or mwendland@freepress.com. ------------------------------ From: i_burshteyn@yahoo.com (ilyaburshteyn) Subject: Vonage Vs. AT&T Date: 29 Apr 2004 08:22:34 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am a current Vonage customer, and their services is great (I am very happy with it). I used to be an AT&T customer, and their service was acceptable, until you have a billing problem. First they raised the price of my DSL without warning after two years of service. After I canceled it, and tried to switch to other phone companies for phone, and DSL service, AT&T blocked transfers because, get this, according to them "I had DSL" on my line. When I called them, they said I had no DSL on my line, and they would allow transferring my phone service. I kept trying. Two months later, I got cable internet. I signed up with Vonage and tried to get my phone number transferred over to Vonage. AT&T refused saying "I had DSL" on my line. I gave up and kept my new number. As if all that isn't enough, when I canceled my DSL services AT&T said there was a "slight billing glitch" which resulted in an incorrect $217 disconnection fee ($200 fee + $17 tax, but that is probably not in AT&T's hands). I called AT&T and asked them to stop my automatic card pay; their customer service rep, assured me it was stopped. He instructed me to make a payment for my phone service only, and wait for the $217 to be credited to my account which he said would take 30 days. What a surprise, after I sent the phone service payment in, they charged my card anyway. I called them, and asked them to return my money since I had been billed for nearly $300 erroneously. It turns out AT&T can't issue credit-card refunds, how convenient for them. After three months of delays and promises, I closed my account and contacted my credit-cards' fraud protection unit. Fortunately American express was able to get in touch with AT&T and resolve the matter with a full refund to my account. In the time I spent trying to get MY money back from them, I contacted the BBB (Better Business Bureau) they told me that AT&T does not respond to their inquiries, and told me to continue trying to resolve this through AT&T's so called customer service. So let me say in conclusion, I will never use AT&T services for anything (I had cellular service from them it was garbage as well). Now, saying that made me feel better. Now to be fair I will editorialize a bit about my Vonage experience. For a person like myself Vonage offers a saving of about $300 annually. My bills for local phone service went from $55 to $28; those figures include all taxes and fees. What is bad about Vonage? There are occasional outages in service I have had their service for 8 months an there was one 7 hour stretch with no service, and a 5 day period with occasional outages. I admit, it tried my patience, but for the last 5 months it has been nearly perfect. The other negative is the lack of some familiar features. I can't get blocked numbers prevented from reaching me. That is the only one I really miss. What is good about Vonage? I can check my voicemail through an internet browser anywhere in the world, or in my case from across the Manhattan Bridge in my union square office. I get pages sent to my cell, when a voicemail is left for me. When I travel to places where I can get broadband, I bring my phone service with me, so no long-distance when I call people back in NYC. Really great voice quality, better then regular phone service. Customer service that actually follows up and makes sure everything is taken care of. Let me also say their international rates are great. Before I switched to Vonage I made a call to Cancun from my AT&T; phone the call lasted 5 minutes and cost me $18. After I hooked Vonage up to my phone-jacks, my wife called her vacationing parents in Cancun for a total of over 30 minutes spanning several days. All the calls to Mexico over Vonage service came out to less then $2 that is total for over 30 minutes (I believe their rate was around $0.06 per minute). I can say this, in some ways Vonage is not as convenient as the phone company in others it is far better. The technology is in its infancy, and it has already scared the big phone companies who got caught sleeping. As Vonage service improves and more features are added, they will become a major force in home phone service. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Vonage *already is* a major force in home phone service. All the telcos hate them, the same way they used to hate the first intrusion into their cash-cow, MCI back in the late 1960's. Now they are bos'm buddies with their 'traditional-style' competitors as they all join together in ganging up on the newest arrivals on the playing field. You know, Southwestern Bell pulled that same crap on me, claiming I could not be taken away from them (with my hundred dollar plus per month residential account)'because he has DSL on his account'. My response to them was 'you want to play for all or nothing? ... okay, then you get nothing.' They blinked and thought they could continue to bluff me, I mean, how dare this ignorant residential customer in Independence, KS tell *us* what he was going to do, etc? Now, a full year after no-Bell in my house and a dozen letters and attempted bribes from them to get me back, I really feel sorry for those of you who still have not broken away once and for all. I still have more Vonage 'second month free' e-coupons for anyone who wants to try them out. PAT] ------------------------------ From: sdgreymont@yahoo.com (Scott) Subject: VOIP Help Only Getting One Way Audio Conversation Date: 29 Apr 2004 08:54:01 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello to the experts. To start out with I don't know much about VOIP. We have a user who is connected to DSL through Frontier with a speedstream 5200 adsl modem. We are able to get out Axxess IP Phone Plus phone to show up on the network. The problem is that we are only getting one way communication. We can hear the end party perfectly, they just cannot hear us over this phone. We believe we have opened all the appropriate ports on the firewall to allow voice traffic through. We have tried using a packet sniffer, and unfortunately we don't see squat getting blocked from this user. All help is greatly appreciated. Please post back to this original string. Scott ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 23:38:01 -0400 From: Mau Subject: AT&T Launches VOIP Service [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here is Johnny-Come-Lately with an important announcement for all of us. PAT] THE BOSTON GLOBE Tuesday, April 27, 2004 Page A1 Business AT&T JOINS INTERNET CALL MARKET ------------------------------- By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff The humble home telephone took a major step into the digital future yesterday as telecom icon AT&T Corp. rolled out a new $40-a-month unlimited Internet calling plan in the Boston area. Lending the Ma Bell brand and prestige to a market so far dominated by quirky start-ups, AT&T began selling its CallVantage service throughout the area inside Interstate 495. CallVantage is now available in 19 US metropolitan areas, with 80 more planned in coming months. While AT&T is the first big-name carrier to offer phone service via the Internet locally, other telecom giants are scrambling to offer similar plans. Verizon Communications Inc. is expected to roll out a comparable service locally within two months, and Comcast Corp. also is planning to move into Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP, phone service over the next year. Voice-Over-Internet service is available only in households that already pay for a separate, high-speed Internet connection, such as a telephone digital subscriber line or cable modem, that can cost $33 to $45 a month. But for those people who already have a high-speed connection, including nearly 30 percent of Massachusetts households, VOIP can offer a range of advanced services such as voice-mail messages played as sound files through an e-mail account; conference calls set up instantly from a contact list on a computer; and in AT&T's case, a "find me" service that rings up to five office and wireless numbers when a subscriber's phone number is called. "It's a great development from the consumer perspective to have another choice in service from a major carrier," said Will Stofega, a senior telecom analyst with International Data Corp. in Framingham. "AT&T is coming in with their brand name, their reputation, and a very serious commitment, and they have all the things that a real phone company has to offer, like customer service and a network that they control." Besides the potential for big savings, some early adopters of VOIP calling systems primarily people using the technology at work rather than at home rave about the enhanced features enabled by CallVantage-style systems. Jim Barry, chief technology officer of OneUnited Bank, which has operations in Boston, Miami, and Los Angeles, said being able to merge voice mail with e-mail, and forward voice messages just as easily as e-mail, has been a big help. CallVantage subscribers get a paperback-sized adapter to link their computer broadband modem to a normal phone. They can then make calls through the computer connection to any phone in the world. The calling service is limited, however, to the single phone connected to the computer. For people who already have a broadband connection, the AT&T service which it sells for $20 for the first six months would cost about $15 a month less than comparable unlimited local and long distance calling services from Comcast, MCI, and Verizon that also include voice mail. It's also $15 cheaper than AT&T's own One Rate USA plan, which works on conventional telephone lines. VOIP systems carry phone calls in the same format as e-mail and Web pages, which can make them far less expensive than conventional phone calls. Instead of creating two dedicated channels for talking and listening, as conventional phone service does, VOIP breaks conversation into tiny digital data packets that are zapped across the Net and reassembled in a fraction of a second to create continuous sound. Verizon, the biggest US phone company, will offer a VOIP service within the next two months, and "it will be extremely competitive in features and price," spokesman Jack Hoey said. Comcast spokeswoman Jennifer L. Khoury said the cable company's $44-a-month Comcast Connections Any Distance plan for television subscribers "is a competitive service that has met with overwhelming success here in New England." John S. Rego, chief financial officer of Vonage Holdings Corp., which is based in Edison, N.J., said, "We're happy to have AT&T come in. It validates the market for this technology." Among other special features, the AT&T CallVantage plan lets subscribers set up "Do not disturb" hours when they do not want to take calls except those from specially designated numbers and create online lists of dialed and received calls that subscribers can then click to call again. Subscribers can unplug the adapter and move it to another computer with a broadband connection anywhere in the US and receive calls at their home number. AT&T spokeswoman Deborah Jones said CallVantage will be expanded across the state and New England in coming months, though it is being marketed for now to residents of the metropolitan area inside I-495. Although people living on Cape Cod or in Worcester County could sign up for service now, they would get a phone number assigned to an area inside 495 that could be a toll call for neighbors calling them. CallVantage has several limitations. For example, subscribers cannot use it to call 411 directory assistance, to receive faxes, or to connect a home security system, and lose phone service during power failures. AT&T also reserves the right to cancel service for subscribers making more than 5,000 minutes of calls per month. Peter J. Howe can be reached at howe@globe.com. Globe Newspaper Company ------------------------------ From: Method to Madness Subject: Packet8 Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 21:50:08 -0400 I was thinking of getting Packet8 for phone service with my house. $19/month is not a bad price at all when Vonage is more and Verizon certainly is a huge rip off. I really need to get out of the Verizon system, since they're just sucking us dry until cable companies eventually put them out of business for home phone service. Do these type Internet phone services work with home alarm systems? It would really suck if I had to keep Verizon or "regular" phone service all because of my alarm system ... UGH! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My understanding is any device which can take a phone off hook and transmit something over it will work with VOIP. And by the way, Vonage is now down to $14.99 per month for a 500 calls per month unlimited locations. My suggestion would be to use one of the e-coupons for Vonage (many guys give them away) to get one of the $14.99 / 500 calls per month package, wire your alarm through the Vonage and test it. Remember, you may have to adjust your dialing string on the alarm box. Run in parallel for two months or so so see how well your alarm and Vonage work together, then when you are satisfied dump your Verizon line entirely. Don't expect Verizon to be flexible enough to work along with you on any of this. That just won't happen. Out of curiosity. I tried my Vonage line with an old 1200/2400 baud modem and computer once. It worked okay. PAT] ------------------------------ From: mailias@yahoo.com (Mail Ias) Subject: Is Anyone Using MCI Business Complete Unlimited Organization: Insight Broadband Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 21:48:28 GMT I've been having conversations with an MCI rep about switching our business's local phone lines over to MCI. Part of the deal is their unlimited long distance calling. The first line is $59.95 and each additional line is $44.95 (you can also get regular lines without free LD for $24.95). This looks like a really good deal. It would definitely save us some money over our current setup. We don't have to get any new lines pulled in, they just take over billing, so the disruption should be minimal (cringe). I haven't seen the fine print but have been told that unlimited really means unlimited. I'd still read the fine print to be 100% sure. We're in SBC Ameritech's service area in IN. Someone from AT&T has called but I haven't talked to them yet. Also getting some quotes from a CLEC and pulling in a T1. Sounds pretty good but it doesn't have the unlimited LD feature. So, is this a pretty good plan? Are the others out there that you're aware of for businesses? Update: did some searching and found Talk America for $53.95 for the first line and $49.00 for each additional. That's a little bit higher than MCI's plan, but maybe close enough if other things balance out. ------------------------------ From: yared22311@yahoo.com (Mike) Subject: Powerful Gadgetry: Smart Phones Date: 29 Apr 2004 06:12:09 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Powerful gadgetry Call them smart phones, hybrid toys or convergence wonders, today's multipurpose devices pack the features of several once-unique technologies in one ever-shrinking package. Some gadgets might make James Bond sit up and take notice. http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20040428-100205-9900r.htm ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 20:08:08 -0400 Subject: VoIP: To Tax or Not to Tax Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5201671.html By Marguerite Reardon CNET News.com As the debate over Internet taxation heats up in Congress, legal experts are keeping one eye fixed firmly on Florida, where officials are poised to begin enforcing a little-known state law that could open the door to a wide range of new telecommunications taxes. For nearly two decades, Florida's Substitute Communications statute has gone relatively unnoticed and has not been widely enforced. But as the state looks for new sources of revenue, the law has emerged as an unexpected -- and controversial -- potential cash source. Using a broad interpretation of the statute, the state revenue office as soon as this summer could begin taxing voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers and businesses that use local area networks (LANs) to transmit voice calls. State lawmakers have until Friday to revise or postpone enforcement of the statute, at which point local officials said they will have no choice but to begin enforcing the law. "I do think this is a law of unintended consequences," said Dave Bruns, a spokesman for the State Revenue Department in Florida. "It was written before anyone outside of Silicon Valley had even thought of local area networks or VoIP. It's our responsibility to administer the tax policy. If the guidance we get from the legislature is to maintain the current course, we will enforce it to the best of our ability." Full story at: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5201671.html How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 22:55:03 -0400 Subject: Missouri Moves to Ban 'UnFees' - Part of Larger Backlash Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/43047 Written by Karl Bode The Missouri state Public Service Commission is considering banning all extra provider charges and fees not mandated by state or federal regulators, reports the Kansas City Star. The move is a response to the recent increase in so called "regulatory recovery" and other fees that appear frequently on landline and wireless -- and most recently -- on DSL bills. [Comment: And also on the bills of a few VoIP providers.] The National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA), which represents some 43 state agencies, recently urged lawmakers to ban such "fees". "In the last few years, wireline and wireless carriers have concocted line item charges, fees, and surcharges, purporting to recover all manner of "regulatory," "administrative," or "government-mandated" costs, but which do nothing more than soak consumers for the carriers' ordinary operating costs," the group recently noted in a petition to the FCC (Word document). Full story (with links and comments) at: http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/43047 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 08:42:56 -0400 Subject: How to Talk to the FCC Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Here are a couple of must-read articles for those in the VoIP industry in the United States: How to Talk to the FCC So, you've been in business long enough to know what rules you like and what rules you don't. It's time to talk to the government. by Marlon Schafer Consultant and CEO, Odessa Office http://www.isp-planet.com/fixed_wireless/politics/2004/how_to_talk_to_the_fcc.html How I Talked to the FCC Here's how I made the connections that led to my first FCC meeting. by Marlon Schafer Consultant and CEO, Odessa Office http://www.isp-planet.com/fixed_wireless/politics/2004/how_i_met_the_fcc.html Here's a quote from the second article: "Garbage In, Garbage Out (GIGO). The people at the FCC keep saying, over and over again, if you don't talk to us we can't make life better for you. If you don't file comments when we ask questions, don't pick up the phone, don't stop in when you are in the area, shame on you. Others will do that (telco etc.) and they'll set the agenda. You have to come and talk to us." ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 10:50:02 -0400 Subject: US Senate Panel Eyes Revamping Telecom Laws Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.americasnetwork.com/americasnetwork/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=93597 WASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - Two top U.S. telecommunications executives on Tuesday urged Congress to avoid regulating nascent Internet-based telephone service, as lawmakers contemplate whether to overhaul the 1996 law governing the industry. The Senate Commerce Committee began a series of hearings looking into how it could modernize the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which was aimed at promoting competition for consumers but has mostly provoked legal battles over the rules instead. While the dominant local phone companies have gobbled up large chunks of the long-distance telephone market, competitors have found it more difficult to enter the local telephone market because of limited access to consumers' homes. "I will introduce a bill later this year to reform telecommunications law so that our legal framework for the next decade is not in fundamental conflict with the goals upon which our telecom policy is originally based," said Sen. John McCain, the committee chairman and an Arizona Republican. Full story at: http://www.americasnetwork.com/americasnetwork/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=93597 ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Share Day For April Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 2:00:00 EST Instead of changing the Digest over to an advrtising supported forum, I have always elected to keep it as a user supported forum, and for the most part keep it spam and virus free. I am *only* able to do this because of financial support from readers here, and if you would rather not see these messages every month, then please pitch in and help now and then! Consider it sort of like public radio, which goes on for days at a time trying to raise money ... and maybe I should adopt the same system. Turn over the entire Digest once or twice a year to fund raising (entire issues, etc) and stop doing it when the budget for the year has been raised. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #214 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Apr 29 18:30:04 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3TMU4310112; Thu, 29 Apr 2004 18:30:04 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 18:30:04 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404292230.i3TMU4310112@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 #215 TELECOM Digest Thu, 29 Apr 2004 18:30:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 215 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Comcast Reports First Quarter 2004 Results (Monty Solomon) Yahoo! Messenger on Verizon Wireless' Mobile IM Service (Monty Solomon) US House Panel Advances Satellite Legislation (Monty Solomon) Nextel Tests Flexible Plans in Some Markets (Monty Solomon) U.S. Cellular Reports Strong First Quarter Results (Monty Solomon) Re: VOIP Connectivity to Multi Line Key Phone Systems (Stanley Cline) Re: How VoIP Can Connect the Disabled (Justin Time) Re: Evading the National Do-Not-Call List (Frank@nospam.biz) Re: Evading the National Do-Not-Call List (Jim Haynes) WiFi Research in Europe: Will Europe Lead Way Compared to US (Bailey) Re: Honesty from Earthlink (Mail Ias) Re: Good News: Four Oakland Cited in First U.S. Spam Case (SELLCOM Tech) Mobile IP Networks (007) Re: IDT Uses Wi-Fi to Offer Cheaper Cell Service (Steven J Sobol) Re: TiVo Will Not Die (Method to Madness) "If I am Elected" (Dale Neiburg) Galaxy Internet Services VOIP (Fred Atkinson) Re: Packet8 (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.) Used Norstar M7310 Sets Worth Anything? (Tom Betz) 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 are 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: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 09:03:14 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast Reports First Quarter 2004 Results Cable Revenue Increased 9.8% to $4.6 Billion; High-Speed Internet Service Revenue Increased 41.9% to $698 Million Cable Operating Cash Flow Increased 21.0% to $1.7 Billion Cable Operating Income More than Doubled to $702 Million Consolidated Operating Income More than Doubled to $659 Million Generated Consolidated Free Cash Flow of Nearly $400 Million in the Quarter; On Track to Achieve $2 Billion of Free Cash Flow for Full Year 2004 PHILADELPHIA, April 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) today reported results for the quarter ended March 31, 2004. Comcast will discuss first quarter results on a conference call and webcast today at 8:30 AM Eastern Time. A live broadcast of the conference call will be available on the investor relations website at www.cmcsa.com and www.cmcsk.com . - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41199029 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 09:06:13 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Yahoo! Messenger on Verizon Wireless' Mobile IM Service Customers Now Have Their Choice of Top Three IM Applications BEDMINSTER, N.J., April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless service provider, and Yahoo!, a leading global Internet company, today announced that Yahoo!(R) Messenger is now available on Verizon Wireless' Mobile IM service. Starting today, Verizon Wireless customers can use their wireless phones to access their pre-existing IM accounts with Yahoo! Messenger to send and receive instant messages. Using their Get It Now(R)- enabled handsets, IMers can stay in touch with friends and family with the nation's three most popular instant message applications, even when they are away from their computers. Verizon Wireless Mobile IM brings the familiar PC IM experience to mobile phones. Developed by Comverse, the full-color user interface lets customers: * View, refresh and manage Yahoo! Friends lists * Easily create messages using symbols and predictive text * Receive instant messages, even if the handset is closed * Remain logged in, without incurring airtime charges * Hold multiple IM conversations * Change availability status * Block unwanted messages * Get on-screen help - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41202823 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 09:12:06 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: US House Panel Advances Satellite Legislation WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - A U.S. House of Representatives panel on Wednesday approved a measure requiring EchoStar Communications Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH) and DirecTV Group Inc. to put local broadcast channels they offer on a single satellite dish instead of two dishes within a year. EchoStar, the No. 2 provider, requires customers in 38 markets to have two dishes, citing capacity constraints. Local channels are split between the two dishes and broadcasters have complained that less popular channels are shunted to the second dish that some customers forgo. DirecTV, which is controlled by News Corp. (AUS:NCP), is also expected to use two dishes in some local markets when it rolls out service in more cities later this year. The bill would "help ensure that consumers where local-into-local is available have ready access to all the local broadcast stations in their market," said Rep. Fred Upton, chairman of the House Commerce subcommittee on telecommunications which approved the measure by voice vote. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41207229 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 09:14:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nextel Tests Flexible Plans in Some Markets NEW YORK, April 28 (Reuters) - Nextel Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTL) said on Wednesday it has begun testing a more flexible way of charging for its mobile phone services with an aim to keep existing customers and attract new subscribers. Reston, Virginia-based Nextel is letting customers who talk for more time than allowed in their monthly service plans, automatically upgrade to a costlier plan with more minutes -- in a small number of markets, Nextel spokeswoman Audrey Schaefer said. This option means that talkative customers would pay a set amount extra if they go over the agreed minutes and avoid the unpredictability of expensive per-minute charges that kick in when subscribers talk for longer than expected. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41208164 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 08:56:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: U.S. Cellular Reports Strong First Quarter Results CHICAGO, April 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United States Cellular Corporation (Amex: USM) reported service revenues of $619.4 million for the first quarter of 2004, up 10% from $564.6 million in the comparable period a year ago. The company recorded operating income of $28.3 million during the quarter, an increase of $32.6 million from the first quarter of 2003, as restated. Operating expenses in 2003 included a $21.6 million loss, as restated, related to the then-pending exchange of U.S. Cellular's Florida and Georgia properties to AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. (NYSE:AWE) ("AT&T Wireless"). Net income and basic earnings per share were $9.2 million and $.11, respectively compared to a net loss and basic loss per share of $27.8 million and $.32, respectively, in the comparable period one year ago, as restated. In the first quarter of 2003, the company recorded the cumulative effect of an accounting change, net of tax, related to the implementation of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) 143, "Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations," which reduced net income by $14.3 million. The company's operating results include, through February 17, 2004, the operations of the southern Texas markets that were sold to AT&T Wireless on February 18, 2004. The company's operating results include the previously mentioned Florida and Georgia properties' results for the entire first quarter of 2003, but exclude those properties' results for 2004. First Quarter Highlights -- Customers totaled 4,547,000, a 7% increase from 4,240,000 customers one year earlier and includes the addition of 18,000 customers in a market that was added to the company's consolidated operations as of January 1, 2004. Customers at March 31, 2004 do not include 76,000 customers divested in the sale of the southern Texas properties to AT&T Wireless. Excluding the impact of acquisitions and divestitures, the number of customers grew 12%. -- Net customer activations from distribution channels totaled 196,000 during the quarter, compared to 137,000 activations for the same quarter of 2003. -- For the quarter, the company recorded postpay churn of 1.3%, which is favorable to industry averages and the company's lowest quarterly postpay churn rate since it began tracking the measure. -- Average monthly retail service revenue per customer increased 7% year- over-year in the quarter to $40.26, compared to $37.68 in the same period a year ago. This comparison reflects U.S. Cellular's decision to include in retail service revenue those amounts billed to customers to recover the company's payments into the universal service fund. Previously, such billings were recorded in other revenues. This change is reflected in the company's revenues in both periods. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41199900 ------------------------------ From: Stanley Cline Subject: Re: VOIP Connectivity to Multi Line Key Telephone Systems Organization: Myself, in Dunwoody/Sandy Springs/Atlanta, GA, USA :) Reply-To: sc1-news@roamer1.org Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 03:14:18 GMT On 27 Apr 2004 13:50:16 -0700, dave@ces-hawaii.com (agolfer) wrote: > I have a multi-line key telephone system in my office. It is not VOIP > compatible. Is there a way that I can use VOIP services from > providers like Vonage for voice/fax? From what I see on Vonage's As long as the key system can handle loop start lines, it shouldn't be a problem. Stanley Cline -- sc1 at roamer1 dot org -- http://www.roamer1.org/ "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And I have even seen cases where multi- line phones could handle ground start. Picture a typical six-button five line phone. The button on the far left is *usually* a 'hold' button, and spring loaded so it pops back up instantly upon being pressed. Often times with a red plastic button instead of the usual clear colored button. Now suppose you took the pair that usually controlled the hold function and sent that pair to ground, looping it through the button on the phone. Then when the person using the phone pressed that button (of neccessity, only momentarily) then you would send ground to the phone line, right? Or take a two-line, turn button phone. (I think Bell called them 2500-sets?) Two lines, one on each side of the turn button; but the button also has a *third* position, a momentary closure when it is pressed down and released, like a doorbell. Take that pair, which is normally blue/white and send it to ground, looped through the push- button position on the turn button switch. PAT ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: How VoIP Can Connect the Disabled Date: 29 Apr 2004 06:05:59 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com VOIP News wrote in message news:: > http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2004/tc20040428_4395_tc116.htm > Internet-based telephony holds great promise for allowing the blind > and deaf to communicate much better and become more productive > Don Barrett's phone is his best assistant at work. Barrett, who's > blind, has a phone that uses spoken voice to let him know who the > caller is or to read to him the messages people leave when he misses a > call. He can even use voice commands to tell his phone to find a > number in his electronic Rolodex. Here is a perfect example of the challenged leading the challenged and both falling into a ditch. I will admit, I am not visually challenged, well at least glasses correct my problems, and my phone "reads to me the messages people leave when I miss a call." Hello - It's called VOICE mail. Now, reading the name or number from the Caller-ID display, that does require a little more equipment, but it can still be picked off a traditional phone and processed through the computer. The same with the voice command dialer connected to "an electronic Rolodex." This isn't Buck Rogers and the 24 1/2 century stuff we're talking about here. This is pretty basic stuff that has been done for at least 10 to 15 years using a modem as a dialer or to pick off the CID. > None of these tasks are possible with a traditional phone, but Barrett > is ahead of the game. He's using a PC-based phone that runs on > voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) technology. With some extra > software, he can also hear his e-mail and voice mail from the > Internet. At his job as assistive-technology specialist at the > U.S. Education Dept., Barrett says the VoIP gear has greatly improved > his performance. "I can decide whether to take a call. For me, that's > huge." I think I installed my first text reader in the late '70's -- around 78 or 79. We fed text messages from the serial port of a terminal through a VOTRAX and had it speaking the words. The output was not great, monotone with no inflection and very tiring to listen to for any period of time - but it was text to speech being done in a commercial setting. We needed it for a blind person that had come to work for us, and being a computer company it was extremely easy for us to put something together using off-the-shelf components. I think it took us less than 2 weeks to get a prototype running and a simple "finished" product was done in 3 or 4 more. > While VoIP is creating quite a stir in the telecommuncations field > overall (see BW Online, 1/6/04, "Finally, 21st Century Phone > Service"), it's an especially promising technology for people with > disabilities. VoIP integrates the phone, voice mail, > audioconferencing, e-mail, instant messaging, and Web applications > like Microsoft Outlook on one secure, seamless network. Plus, workers > can use their PC, laptop, or handheld as a VoIP phone from virtually > anywhere, with the same phone number, which benefits telecommuters, > including those whose mobility is impaired and must work from home. For all the hype, and for the most part it is nothing but hype -- VoIP isn't doing anything new. The applications are not new, they are repackaged traditional voice circuit applications that have been around for years. People are missing the point about VoIP. VoIP does not change the way we use a telephone, it doesn't add any applications or earth shaking features that aren't currently present. What it does do, and exactly how well is open to debate, is provide a different transport mechnaism. Kind of like going from open pair cable to twisted pair. As they start to work out the bandwidth requirements, quality of service and other major issues with VoIP and VoATM, then maybe, just maybe we can consider it a change from copper to fiber -- but that's all it is, a change in the transport media. Oh, by the way (or OBTW), how does VoIP help a deaf person? Rodgers Platt > Full story at: > http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2004/tc20040428_4395_tc116.htm [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A deaf person? Well, a deaf person with a TTY machine could hook it up to the Vonage, couldn't he? Ah, but if the aurally different person (to be politically correct) had Vonage and a broadband connection, he would probably also have one of the various instant messengers (Yahoo, AOL, MSN) would he not? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Frank@nospam.biz Subject: Re: Evading the National Do-Not-Call List Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 06:38:50 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications Bob Hofkin wrote: > [PAT, Please remove my email address from the message. I have more than > enough spam as it is.] > An outfit called the National Consumer Council (NCC) placed a > prerecorded phone call to my home this morning. They were offering a > credit repar service. Two little problems: I am on the FTC's > do-no-call list, and there was no CLID information provided. > The IRS lists NCC as a public charity, so apparently the organization > is exempt from the do-not-call list restrictions. I gather that NCC's > contributors are a couple of credit repair companies that benefit from > referrals; nowhere on their web site (www.thencc.org) did I see any > solicitation for contributions from the general public. > The NCC phone rep was a little vague on the charitible services they > provide. He told me is was "advice." Curious readers may want to > contact the organization at 800-990-3990 to inquire further. > Bob > That's another fine message you've gotten us in. The best defense is a good offense. Although most Telco switch-based features are toys, SBC's Privacy Manager is worth its weight in gold, combined with Nortel's talking caller ID. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But SBC's chairman (or the flunky who speaks in his name) insists that ten zeros or an obviously bogus name is not an 'anonymous call'. 'Out of area' is not an anonymous call. Only if a caller deliberatly prepends *67 at the start of the dialing string is it an anonymous call, and why should a telemarketer go to the trouble of dialing *67 if their telepone system was rigged up to give false information to start with? ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Evading the National Do-Not-Call List Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 16:10:20 GMT I too got a call from that NCC slime. Right at the beginning it said they were exempt from do-not-call as a charity. I entered a complaint anyway. There was recently something in the paper or on the net about these supposedly non-profit debt consolidation services, and how they shift income from the nonprofit to their for-profit lending arm, and often end up charging the consumer a higher interest rate than he was paying already. I hope the FTC investigates this outfit. I could see, too, a need for finer tuning of the rules. Personally I'd ban all telephone soliciting; but if we have to allow charities then make a distinction between those who call soliciting donations and those who call to offer their "services". Also wish the online complaint form had a place for a comment, so I could comment that this one smells like a scam to me. jhhaynes at earthlink dot net [TELEOM Digest Editor's Note: One thing the credit counselors do not tell you is that while yes, they often times have the weight to get your creditors to reduce your payments, 'voluntary bankruptcy' or financial re-organization is only one step above straight bankruptcy and it winds up looking like hell on your credit report, which does say honestly, yes, the man pays his bills (not a total deadbeat), but in his own good time. You don't come out of the experience totally free and clear. PAT] ------------------------------ From: baileyw@uga.edu (Bailey) Subject: WiFi Research in Europe: Will Europe Lead the Way Compared to US? Date: 29 Apr 2004 10:29:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello All, I am leading a Wi Fi Zone and Cloud research project for Dr Scott Shamp at the University of Georgia at Athens in the US.  You may have heard of UGA; we have a 24 block free Wi Fi Cloud over downtown and the first location based services in that Cloud in the US. http://www.nmi.uga.edu provides an overview of the academic program. Here are some things I'm trying to understand in Europe. I would very much appreciate your input: * How much delay, if any, has typically occurred in approvals by European governments of Wi Fi implementation (indoors and outdoors) compared to the US? * More importantly, are Wi Fi providers in Europe looking at providing content such as city tour guides, games, etc as the European cellular network providers do? Are others in Europe? Europe leads the US substantially on applications and content for mobile phones. Will Europe do the same within Wi Fi? Will Japan? Thank you for any insight. Bailey ------------------------------ From: mailias@yahoo.com (Mail Ias) Subject: Re: Honesty from Earthlink Organization: Insight Broadband Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 17:57:21 GMT In article , Barry Margolin wrote: > In article , Edson C. Hendricks > wrote: >> Ed.H: All right, I can see you have no more answers. Thank you very >> much for your attention, although I must tell in closing that your >> explanation doesn't satisfy me, and I doubt it would satisfy >> practically any objective reader. > Let's say you're right, and they're deliberately not fixing the > opt-out mechanism. Did you really expect a customer support rep to > admit that they're blatantly lying to customers? More likely, they're > keeping it a secret from the CSRs as well. > Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu > Arlington, MA > *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** Let's consider that the original poster is wrong -- Earthlink really is trying to fix the problem, but can't so far. Do you really expect any CSR to be able to explain it to your satisfaction? What do you want? "we use SQL Server 2000 build 5915, and there's a bug with index headers on tables larger than 6,000,007 bytes, only when the first field of the table starts with the letter J". ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support Subject: Re: Good News: Four Oakland Cited in First U.S. Spam Case Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 18:43:43 GMT Joe Wineburgh posted on that vast internet thingie: > Other unwitting companies and agencies whose computers were used > include All of the aforementioned and deliberately not quoted were *all* running open relays or unsecured email servers in 2004??????? Let's just kinda hope that the prison population will be computer literate enough to give the spammers the same courtesy formerly reserved for child molesters and such like. Steve at SELLCOM http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Siemens, AT&T, Panasonic, Motorola Vtech 5.8Ghz; TMC ET4000 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Beamer, Watchguard! Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Mini-Splitter log splitter! If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz you owe it to yourself. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They may have very well had open relays on their sites. Many large corporations hold Usenet in such disdain anyway. Discourage reading it, certainly never take heed to anything talked about on the net, etc. Just go on doing their own thing. I cannot begin to tell you how many *huge* corporations (some of which were named) have been eaten alive on phone charges (some of which was fraud, all of which was careless administration of their phone systems. I am not trying to do 'sour grapes' here, but so many of them just will not listen or read the virtually free advice they can get in a place like this newsgroup, which is hardly unique on the net. PAT] ------------------------------ From: 007@sthilliers.com.au (007) Subject: Mobile IP Networks Date: 29 Apr 2004 01:55:08 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I need to investigate some solutions for a true mobile wireless networks and I'm looking for anyone's input. The situation is as follows: I need to design a network that will supporting IP traffic on a public bus transport system. Wireless terminals on each bus will communicate through a router onboard each bus (ie each bus is a mobile wireless LAN). At the bus depot there is a gateway for internet and telephony. The range of each LAN on each bus is limited to no more than 3km and there are no more than 10 busses within the network. What are some considerations for the planning, design and architecture of such a network? Thanks. ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: IDT Uses Wi-Fi to Offer Cheaper Cell Service Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 16:38:31 -0500 VOIP News wrote: > http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2004-04-21-idt-wifi_x.htm > By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY > Believe it or not, 43% of U.S. consumers still don't have a cell phone, > many for budget reasons. > Now, long-distance company IDT is aiming at low- to moderate-income > holdouts with a new breed of inexpensive service that offers mobile > service but only in certain areas. It'll mostly affect the companies like Leap Wireless/Cricket, Metro PCS and Northcoast PCS that offer flat-rate monthly local cell calls for $30-40 per month. Northcoast PCS is in the Northeast. They initially launched in Cleveland and within a month of the launch, I picked up one of the first phones they'd ever sold. They're doing horribly, though. I don't know if they went under, as was rumored, but they sold a ton of spectrum to Verizon Wireless. MetroPCS and Cricket aren't in New York at all, and I'm not sure NCPCS is either. They were supposed to have been all over the Northeast -- they're owned by Cablevision, which is headquartered on Long Island -- but I don't see coverage anywhere other than Cleveland listed on northcoastpcs.com and, in fact, they have scaled down coverage a bit. JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, Apple Valley, CA PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net Domain Names, $9.95/yr, 24x7 service: http://DomainNames.JustThe.net/ "Someone once called me a sofa, but i didn't feel compelled to rush out and buy slip covers." -adam brower * Hiroshima '45, Chernobyl '86, Windows 98/2000/2003 ------------------------------ From: Method to Madness Subject: Re: TiVo Will Not Die Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 21:52:56 -0400 Tivo will eventually just disappear. Cable companies will upgrade and tweak their DVR services and that's pretty much it. I'm not sure or would know why some one would actually have cable TV service and get Tivo instead of just upgrading their cable box via a small price with the cable company. And when DVD recorder prices eventually drop more and more ... Monty Solomon wrote in message news:telecom23.212.4@telecom-digest.org... > Despite gloomy news reports, the Digital Video Recorder service will > eventually find its niche in the marketplace. > By Phillip Swann > Washington, DC (April 27) -- It's been a rough week for TiVo, the > Digital Video Recorder service. > The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press just published > lengthy features on how TiVo could be wiped out by DVR services > offered by cable TV operators. The New York Times last week wrote a > similar, albeit smaller, version of this story. And, TiVo's stock > continues to be suffocated by a combination of bad news and scary > scenarios. > http://www.tvpredictions.com/tivo042704.html ------------------------------ Subject: "If I am Elected" From: Dale Neiburg Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 15:06:25 -0400 In Telecom Digest, number 209, the editor opined, "Of course Bush has occassionally (?) been sometimes less than forthright in his statements and promises ..." But he isn't obligated to keep his campaign promises. Remember, they all began, "If I am elected ..." --Dale Neiburg [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: "If I am elected" ... But Dale, he *was* elected. And when listening to my radio and 'All Things Considered' and other propoganda produced by your employer (locally, KRPS 89.9 FM for southeast Kansas) I get the distinct impression that your employer looks rather askance at his antics sometimes also. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 13:13:16 PDT From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Galaxy Internet Services VOIP Reply-To: fatkinson@mishmash.com I've been using a VOIP residential service offering by Galaxy Internet. They are only twenty dollars per month for unlimited long distance within the 48 continental United States and some fair decent overseas rates (includes five cents per minute to Australia). They promised voice mail is coming *soon* and I had understood that voicemail was already a part of the service. I keep asking them for a commitment as to when the voicemail service is going to be available. So far, I've gotten no answer. I've even spoken to management and they won't commit. Also, they advertise music on hold. You upload a non-compressed .wav file and supposedly it works. It didn't. When I spoke to someone in customer service, he insisted that they are not yet offering that service. But, the music on hold is a very minor issue. So, I'm seriously considering changing providers as I have to have voice mail before I can begin to give out my number. Does anyone know anything about when Galaxy Internet (www.gis.net) will be ready with their voicemail service? Fred ------------------------------ From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: Packet8 Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 14:37:52 -0600 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Method to Madness wrote: > Do these type Internet phone services work with home alarm systems? It > would really suck if I had to keep Verizon or "regular" phone service > all because of my alarm system ... UGH! > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My understanding is any device which > can take a phone off hook and transmit something over it will work > with VOIP. You need to be very careful here and run some actual tests. Packet8 most definitely does not pass fax or modem calls. Their web site says they are working on it, but not today. I understand Vonage may handle fax calls, not sure about modem calls. Alarm systems are a whole ' nuther problem. If your alarm system uses a dry pair in the same bundle as your voice line, you may be OK. If your alarm system interrupts the voice line and places a call, you need to be careful where you splice in the VOIP box. Even then, it probably won't work as most dialup alarms are making a modem like connection. ------------------------------ From: Tom Betz Subject: Used Norstar M7310 Sets Worth Anything? Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 20:47:51 -0000 Organization: Anything We've just moved a commercial bakery into a new building with a new phone system, and while the (working, remarkably) DR-5 and voicemail systems and cabinets are so cocoa-encrusted as to be pretty much worthless, I have 9 or 10 M7310 sets in black (from the offices) that work. Am I right to estimate that they are probably worth about $50 each on the used market? |I always wanted to be someone,| Tom Betz, Generalist | |but now I think I should have | Want to send me email? | |been a wee bit more specific. | | ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #215 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Apr 30 03:32:26 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3U7WQd14350; Fri, 30 Apr 2004 03:32:26 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2004 03:32:26 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404300732.i3U7WQd14350@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 #216 TELECOM Digest Fri, 30 Apr 2004 03:31:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 216 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Roundup: Google Aims to Raise $2.7 Billion in IPO (Monty Solomon) EFFector 17.15: Verify the Vote - Stand Up for Accountable (M Solomon) Re: Good News: Four Oakland Cited in First U.S. Spam Case (Wesrock) Re: VOIP Connectivity to Multi Line Key Telephone Systems (Wesrock) Telephony Software Recommendation (Larry Snider) Re: Packet8 (Jack Decker) Review: 19th Century Telegraphers (Charles Cryderman) Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 (J Kelly) Re: "If I am Elected" (J Kelly) 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 are 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: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 18:37:09 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Roundup: Google Aims to Raise $2.7 Billion in IPO By CNET News.com Staff The Internet's leading search engine files plans to raise $2.7 billion in an auction-style public offering. With the filing, the company's co-founders also issue a letter to potential shareholders. Google files for unusual $2.7 billion IPO The Internet search leader files documents with regulators that provide insight into its business, as it prepares to sell shares to the public. April 29, 2004 Lifting the lid on Google: A search through the company's SEC filing pulls up some interesting findings. April 29, 2004 Co-founders release Google 'owner's manual'; Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin craft a letter to map out Google's credo as a public company. April 29, 2004 http://news.com.com/2009-1024-5202045.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 20:57:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 17.15: Verify the Vote - Stand Up for Accountable EFFector Vol. 17, No. 15 April 28, 2004 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 287th Issue of EFFector: * Verify the Vote - Stand Up for Accountable Elections! * Op-ed: TSA and CAPPS II - Anatomy of a Cover Up * Sun Microsystems, Craigslist Donate Linux Servers and Bandwidth * MiniLinks (12): Diebold's "Pentagon Papers" * Staff Calendar: 04.30.04 - Cindy Cohn speaks at "China's Digital Future," Berkeley, CA * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/Misc/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector/17/15.php ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 19:28:45 EDT Subject: Re: Good News: Four Oakland Cited in First U.S. Spam Case In a message dated Thu, 29 Apr 2004 09:43:33 -0400, Joe Wineburgh writes: > Other unwitting companies and agencies whose computers were used > include Unisys Corp., Amoco Corp., the Administrative Office of the > United States Courts and the U.S. Army Information Center, according > to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit on Wednesday. I thought Amoco Corp. ceased to exist a number of years ago, becoming an integral part of BP, Inc. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The American Oil Company was absorbed by Standard Oil of Indiana many years ago and the new combined company became known as (AM)erican (O)il (CO)rporation, or 'AMOCO' for short. But because of regulations and laws pertaining to the ways the Standard Oil Company had to do business, with antitrust laws from years ago, and marketing rules the various Standard Oil Companies had agreed on, Amoco did business under that name everywhere *except* about five midwestern states where it was known as 'The Standard Oil Divison of Amoco'. When BP (British Petroleum) bought out Amoco, they chose to retain the 'Standard Oil Division of Amoco' name for some parts of their empire. Some of their computer facilities company wide are still known as 'Amoco' (or now) 'Amoco Division of BP'. You talk about people who would not listen to anything they were told: Amoco is/was a classic example of an unstoppable object meeting an unmoveable one. Amoco Credit Card (when it was in Chicago for about thirty years) versus Illinois Bell Telephone Company was such an example. Maybe I have told this before, I do not remember. I know that Harry Newton of Teleconnect Magazine wrote about it and my part in solving it, back about 1980 or so. The facts: Amoco Corporation was/is the largest telephone subscriber in Chicago other than (1) the City of Chicago itself [several centrex arrangements spread over five telephone prefixes] and (2) the University of Chicago which is essentially the same as (1) above. Then comes Amoco in (3)rd place with the entire 312-856 exchange, their Stanotel private network of tie-lines nationally, etc, a 'telephone bill' of only a couple *million* dollars per *month* (City of Chicago and University of Chicago by comparison each beat out Amoco's phone charges a little, not much). I worked midnight shift in Sales Authorization at the credit card office. I *knew* the amount of traffic we had on the phones all night. Nothing like the ten thousand calls per hour being recieved on the other two shifts; maybe only one call every three or five minutes. I had two clerks and one authorizer working under me on the midnight shift. The ACD (automatic call distributor) would throw the calls out to the work floor and get answered *instantly*, that's how slow it was overnight. So when the boss over me complained one day that 'dealers are complaining that the phones ring unanswered here all night, what are your guys doing?' I was very perplexed, and decided to make a few tests to see. I used the tie-line to Atlanta (where the dealer with the complaints was located) then from local (office in Atlanta) dial tone, dialed '9' for an outside line, then dialed the 1-800 number of our office in Chicago. I tried it three or four times, and always within a second or two heard a phone ringing in the room around me. Then on the fourth or fifth try (*during a silent period of a few seconds when we had no calls coming in that time of night*) I tried it again; it clicked, went through, I heard audible ring tone in my ear, but *nothing* in our room. Not a peep from the ACD. A few minutes later, during another silent period I tried it again, with the same results. Now it was obvious: **the first selected trunk in a group of how many ever toll free 800 lines coming into us was open somewhere.** As long as I kept that line 'busied out' by letting it ring open off to infinity somewhere, there were no more 'missed calls' since the dealer in question and other dealers were obliged to hunt up to the *second or subsequent lines* which were just fine. That was back in the days prior to Larry King's on-air beef with AT&T when the Mother Company started timing out 'ring/no answers' after a couple minutes. If I dialed our 1-800 and was 'lucky' and seized trunk one while it was idle, I could let it ring open until the next morning if I desired. That cured my immediate headache but gave me a new one. I reported this to my immediate supervisor the next morning (the department manager). Have you ever notice how so often your immediate supervisor or others will not note your observtions and act on them; instead they prefer to go into denial and challenge *your* credentials, i.e. "well, why hasn't anyone on the day shift ever noticed this and reported it to me?". Very simple, sir, on the day shift there is never even one second due to the volume of calls when there is not someone attempting to seize on that troubled trunk. One seizure after another, click, click, click. *Someone, some dealer somewhere* is always seizing on trunk one. After a few seconds to a minute or so with no answer, he gives up in disgust and dials again, perhaps thinking he dialed the wrong number the first time. When he abandons his call (on trunk one) and dials again, three or four seconds later, his second call may seize on trunk eighteen or wherever, because some other poor devil instantly seized on the first selected trunk and started the process over again. Now he is more convinced than ever that he dialed 'wrong' the first time. That's why no one on the day shift among your several dozen (anal retentive) clerks and authorizers ever mentioned it. Or if any of your (anal retentive) day shift people *did* hear about it, they probably wrote off the caller as a 'crank caller' the same as Illinois Bell does and did not tell you about it. Well, he did not like my little speech, my Editor's note, but two days later I was called at home in the middle of the day, and told to please stop in the office and explain all that to the Bell repair guy who had come to see me. I did, and the guy from Illinois Bell started in with the same questioning of my credentials (who was I to tell him, etc) and humoring me. With some effort I got him to go to the frames in our ACD area, and inspect the lines. Sure enough, a wire had either worked its way loose, or never been attached in the first place. Gee, so there were all the calls that had been 'lost due to inattentive clerks and authorizers' all night for goddess knows how long. Amoco came to the best conclusion they could, which was that they had not had the use of that IN-WATS line for about one or two years, and they withheld several thousand dollars from their next phone bill. Bell eventually agreed to write it off rather than risk alienating Amoco, especially since the MCI salesman was standing at the door with a big grin on his face hoping to get somewhere. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 19:48:50 EDT Subject: Re: VOIP Connectivity to Multi Line Key Telephone Systems Pat wrote, in a comment on a posting by Stanley Cline at Thu, 29 Apr 2004 03:14:18 GMT: > Or take a two-line, turn button phone. (I think Bell called them > 2500-sets?) The 2500 series of sets were the same series of sets as 500 sets, but with 12-button keypads (including * and #) rather than rotary dials. There were also the 1500 series, which were the same as the 500 sets but with 10-button keypads. Just about any 500 series set ultimately also became available in 2500 sets, with the same buttons, features, etc. A set desginated simply as 2500 (not 25xx) would be a basic single line telephone just like a basic 500 set except with the Touch-Tone oscillator rather than the rotary dail. Other manufacturers besides W.E. used the same desginators. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com ------------------------------ From: Larry Snider Subject: Telephony Software Recommendation Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 21:25:25 -0400 Organization: http://www.esnider.net I was wondering what kind of software would be best for the following hardware configuration: Alliance Server Rack Dual PIII 550Mhz CPU Card 54 Gb (3 x 18 Gb drives) 1 Dialogic VFX/40ESC 2 Dialogic D/41E 1 Dialogic D/480SC-2T1 2 Dialogic MSI/240SC Global cards each with 2 SI/80SC Global daughterboards 1 Dialogic DCB/SC Global Larry www.eSnider.net ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 17:44:56 -0400 From: Jack Decker Subject: Re: Packet8 Pat, please conceal my e-mail address ... On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 21:50:08 -0400, Method to Madness wrote: > I was thinking of getting Packet8 for phone service with my > house. $19/month is not a bad price at all when Vonage is more and > Verizon certainly is a huge rip off. I really need to get out of the > Verizon system, since they're just sucking us dry until cable > companies eventually put them out of business for home phone service. > Do these type Internet phone services work with home alarm systems? It > would really suck if I had to keep Verizon or "regular" phone service > all because of my alarm system ... UGH! The first thing to be aware of is that Packet8 by default compresses speech to a much greater degree than, say, VoicePulse or Vonage. I have heard of people successfully sending FAXes over both of the latter services (although it works best when FAX transmission speed can be slowed to 9600 bps or less), but never over Packet8. Both VoicePulse and Vonage offer high and medium compression settings, but those are optional and not the default (G.711, which is a high quality, low compression codec is the default), whereas Packet8 only offers high compression and there is no way to disable it. And yes, it does affect voice quality also to some degree. So if an alarm system is transmitting data using a built-in modem, it's not as likely to work with Packet8 as with a service that uses the G.711 codec. This is also true of other devices that send and receive data. For example, TiVO or satellite receivers that "phone home" often won't work at all on Packet8, but *sometimes* work with the higher quality codecs (again, it often depends on whether there's a way to slow down the data transmission rate). Now, having said that, some alarm companies are seeing the handwriting on the wall and are starting to offer alarm systems that either use a broadband Internet connection directly to communicate with home base, or use other workarounds. For example, an employee of ADT in Cincinnati, Ohio posted a message to a BroadbandReports.com thread (at ) that indicates that in some cases, particularly with a VoIP provider that uses high compression, you may need a newer ADT system that uses "contact ID." This employee explains that "contact ID" is ADT's newest format that sounds like DTMF (dual tone multi-frequency) tones. Also the new system dials a 1-800 number, so it would not need to be reprogrammed for 11 digit dialing. Also, some alarm companies seem to be more "VoIP friendly" than others. A couple of people posted that they have used the services of NextAlarm.com over VoIP (see thread at ). Still, I would not expect any service to work properly over a high-compression codec -- if it does, consider yourself very lucky. One other thing to be aware of is that alarm systems are usually wired to be the first device on the phone line, so a burglar can't sabotage the system simply by picking up an extension phone. My page on "How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home" at http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html has a short section showing how alarm systems need to be connected. Basically, this is the one situation where you can't just plug your VoIP adapter into any jack on the line, but instead you have to connect it ahead of the alarm system for it to work properly (assuming the alarm connects through a RJ31X jack, which seems to be a fairly standard way to hook up these devices). Also, your alarm system must dial out using touch tones rather than dial pulses. I don't think you will have to do without an alarm system in order to use VoIP, but whether you can use your existing alarm system with Packet8 is another matter entirely. You probably won't know for sure until you try it, though. Jack ------------------------------ From: Charles Cryderman Subject: Review: 19th Century Telegraphers Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 16:49:44 -0400 Just a FYI Western Union was taken over by MCI in the early nineties. At one time WU had run fiber across many of their right-of-ways and were selling long haul facilities to carriers as well as being a CAP (completive access provider). Chip Cryderman ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 17:41:47 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@newsguy.com On Tue, 27 Apr 2004 14:42:38 +0100, Miikka Kiprusoff wrote: > Either your Dad bought a very, very crappy TV, or neither of you have > figured out what that little booklet that came with it is for. > Despite it's title, "Manual" is not a Spanish story about a young > man's journey of self discovery. Among the varied instructions > contained therein will be those that direct you to disable this "fat" > mode. Result: you get a 4:3 picture centered in the middle of the > 16:9 widescreen display, with (typically) gray or black bars down the > left and right side where the rest of the 16:9 picture would be (if it > were 16:9, which it ain't). I find the gray bars unacceptable, black I could live with. But what is the point when 90%+ is in 4:3 anyway. ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: "If I am Elected" Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 17:53:44 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@newsguy.com On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 15:06:25 -0400, Dale Neiburg wrote: > In Telecom Digest, number 209, the editor opined, > "Of course Bush has occassionally (?) been sometimes less than > forthright in his statements and promises ..." > But he isn't obligated to keep his campaign promises. Remember, they > all began, "If I am elected ..." > --Dale Neiburg > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: "If I am elected" ... But Dale, he > *was* elected. And when listening to my radio and 'All Things Considered' > and other propoganda produced by your employer (locally, KRPS 89.9 FM > for southeast Kansas) I get the distinct impression that your employer > looks rather askance at his antics sometimes also. PAT] Pat -- What the hell does Dale's employers opinons have to do with what Dale thinks? My employer has all kinds of crazy opinons on all sorts of things that do not agree with my own. I'm ashamed of you, I thought you had more sense than that ... You are just as bad as media who have to put their own bias into everything rather than just passing on the information. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: One of the hassles with any text-based discussion group like this one is the inability to see the tongue in cheek. I *think* you failed to see Dale's humor, with him making mock of things I have stated about President Bush in the past. And I think you also failed to see my joking rejoinder back to Dale. National Public Radio is 'liberal' in their speech (i.e. no friend of Dubya who would just as soon cut them off the air if he had his way). Unlike Howard Stern who is rude, crude, and lewd, and an easy target for punishment and fining by Bush's buddies at FCC, the NPR people are more intelligent and soft-spoken. With Stern, they have a million reasons to fine him and silence him; they don't have to 'make up excuses'. With NPR, however, its a bit harder to administratively get them to shut up. 'Propoganda' is what Bush claims NPR is dishing out; they say they are neutral in their speech. And they don't spend all day talking about Bush, as Stern used to do, only some very pointed comments from time to time. When you saw my reference to 'your employer says ...' most readers -- I think -- knew I was mocking the whole thing. I never talk about 'your employer' unless I am mocking. That's the hassle with ascii-text based things; its very difficult to show any facial expressions other than simple smileys :) and simple frowns (: But, sorry if you were offended. PAT] ------------------------------ 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. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.l