From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Sep 3 14:46:40 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id F05651518D; Sat, 3 Sep 2005 14:46:39 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #401 Message-Id: <20050903184639.F05651518D@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 14:46:39 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sat, 3 Sep 2005 14:46:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 401 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Katrina Rescuers Improvise Communications (Bruce Myerson) High Definition TV Starts Slowly; Developers Hopeful (Reuters News Wire) Microsoft and Google Continue Court Fight Over Ex-Employee (R. Stevenson) Breaking Glaciers Imperil Arctic Lifestyle (Jan Olson) Online Usage Plummets in Battered Gulf (Monty Solomon) Phones, Computers Coming to Astrodome (Monty Solomon) Re: RIP, Sussex Cellular (Isaiah Beard) Re: Is Verizon Wireless Sabotaging Older Cell Phones? (Isaiah Beard) Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers (Kevin Buhr) Re: Is Malware Hiding in Your Windows Registry? (Dave Close) Last Laugh! I Called You Last Week Mortgage SCAM!!! (Steven Lichter) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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: Bruce Meyerson Subject: Katrina Rescuers Improvise Communications Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 11:55:08 -0500 By BRUCE MEYERSON, AP Business Writer When the phones don't work, improvise. That's what emergency responders and civilians were forced to do in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which trashed the telephone system on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi. Police in New Orleans, their main communications system knocked out, have been taking turns talking on a single radio channel with their walkie talkies. The Mississippi National Guard even resorted to ancient battlefield tactics, sending runners back and forth among commanders with information. And a local sheriff, Sid Hebert of Iberia Parish, helped keep an ambulance company handling medical evacuations across southern Louisiana running by loaning it a portable command center. "He personally drove it to (our headquarters). He got us back on the air," said Richard Zuschlag, chief executive of Acadian Ambulance Service Inc. By Thursday, nearly 10,000 satellite-based wireless phones had poured into the hurricane zone to coordinate relief efforts by federal disaster personnel and Red Cross workers, said service providers Globalstar LLC and Iridium Satellite LLC. But satellite phones were spread far more thinly among the ranks of local public safety personnel and emergency responders. Before the storm, a few thousand satellite phones at most were in use across the three-state region hit by the hurricane, and perhaps only a few hundred of those were in the hands of local authorities, including at least four Louisiana Parishes. Though government officials have never before had to contemplate a communciations breakdown of this magnitude, it was not immediately clear -- with $8.6 billion in federal money handed out to states since September 11 for emergency preparedness -- why more satellite communciations systems were not in place. Without such handsets, the most drenched and devastated areas of the Gulf Coast were cut off from the outside world in more ways than one. The grim TV footage showing a collapsed bridge that once crossed Lake Pontchartrain, one of the main roadways into New Orleans, make it clear why evacuations have been so difficult. That bridge also happened to hold the fiber-optic cables that transported calls and Internet traffic to and from the city as well. While every major phone company has been scrambling to patch its way into the city and other hard-hit areas using alternate routes and backup equipment, it could be some time before many local phone and Internet lines are back in service to receive calls and data. BellSouth Corp., the local phone provider for much of the region, said about 1.6 million customers could be without phone service in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. The company said it was able to restore service for about 150,000 customers between Wednesday and Thursday. In the meantime, emergency personnel were often struggling to communicate as they dealt with desperate circumstances. In New Orleans, police officers crowded a single frequency on their patrol radios. "That has posed some problems with people talking over each other," said Warren Riley, the deputy police chief. "We probably have 20 agencies on one channel right now." Worse, with little power to recharge their batteries, some of those radios were running out of juice. Riley said the police were setting up a new communication system next to the Superdome and waiting for a generator to fire it up later Thursday. In storm-ravaged southern Mississippi, the national guard was doing things the old-fashioned way. "We've got runners running from commander to commander," said Maj. Gen. Harold Cross of the Mississippi National Guard. "In other words, we're going to the sound of gunfire, as we used to say during the Revolutionary War." Restoring phone service isn't merely a matter of waiting for the flood waters to recede and restoring power. While many cables may be salvageable, the electronics that pass the signals across those lines will need to be replaced. "It's essentially analogous to putting a PC in your bathtub. It's not going to work once it dries," said Jim Gerace, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless. Associated Press Writers Jennifer Kerr, Brian Skoloff and Brett Martel contributed to this report. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: van Grinsven and Prodhan Subject: High Definition TV Starts Slowly, Makers Hopeful Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 11:57:50 -0500 By Lucas van Grinsven and Georgina Prodhan Armin Schoenfelder would love to buy a television set that is ready for high definition broadcasts but the German engineer wants to spend no more than 900 euros, while the sets start at twice his budget. "Sure I'm interested, but I'm looking at the prices," the 68-year-old said as he browsed at the Saturn electronics store in Frankfurt. Salesman Mathias Kerscher, 25, is not convinced about high definition television (HDTV) yet, because no German channel is broadcasting in the high-quality format yet. "Until there's a better signal, I don't see any point," he said. The two men illustrate the hurdles the consumer electronics industry must overcome to promote HDTV: a weak European economy and lack of high-quality broadcasts. Yet at the bi-annual consumer electronics trade show IFA in Berlin, once the launch platform for DVD, big TV set producers draw confidence from market research that suggests HDTV may grow faster than black-and-white television did. It took 25 years for 80 percent of households to own a black-and-white TV, a percentage forecast to be hit within 15 years by "High Def" households. It took color TV some 21 years, according to a study by Euroconsult and NPA Conseil. Consumers are now much quicker to pick up the latest gadgets to receive TV broadcasts. In France, it took only five years before 2 million homes had purchased a flat TV, a period after which barely 0.5 million homes had a color TV. Flat screens are not equivalent to HDTV but many of the new plasma and liquid crystal display (LCD) sets are able to reflect the 1080 viewable lines of HDTV, creating a picture that has five times more detail than standard definition television. LONG TIME COMING Unlike the picture quality of HDTV, the launch date of the technology is far from razor sharp. Research began in the United States as early as 1970 and became serious in 1974 with the HDTV study of the International Telecommunications Union. It took nearly two decades to set a world standard, after which the United States kicked off the change-over. In Europe, the electronics industry and the European Union agreed in 1992 to start HDTV as soon as 1999 but the first channel began service in 2004 and 1080 will remain the only one until joined by Germany's premium channel Premiere in November. "There has been a widespread view in the industry that HDTV itself has failed," a working paper by the European Commission said in 2004. One reason the first incarnation of HDTV was late was that the industry first planned an analog version and then realised it had to shift to digital, which makes more efficient use of radio spectrum and network capacity. "I share the sense of frustration that it's been slow to happen, but the wave has begun," the European president of consumer electronics giant and TV market leader Sony Corp. Chris Deering, told Reuters. U.S. LEADS The United States has led the charge to HDTV and 10 percent of homes are ready for the new technology. Government regulation and HDTV broadcast targets have contributed to this achievement, while Europe has decided to let the market set the pace. "The market has to drive it in Europe, more than in other places," Deering said. The soccer World Cup may give HDTV the boost it has been waiting for, said Premiere's head Georg Kofler. "Ahead of the 1974 World Cup, many TV households swapped their black-and-white TV sets for a color TV. We are expecting a similar drive through next year's World Cup," Kofler said at a news conference at IFA. Booz Allen Hamilton consultants expect Europe to cross the 10 percent penetration mark in 2008. This is a significant threshold, because it brings a HDTV set close to every home. "All we need is a set on every block, so people can see what it's like, at the neighbors," Deering said, adding that he is more bullish than even his own company, which expects aggregated market sales of 20 million "HD ready" sets by 2008. "I think it will happen at an accelerated pace, with initiatives such as those of Sky in the United Kingdom, which has very big plans for HDTV. There are also initiatives in France, Germany, Italy and also by the BBC in Britain. Britain will probably be one the early adopters, and a lot of broadcasters look and learn from the BBC," he said. HDTV may be adopted quicker in Europe than in the United States because of recording equipment such as the new generation of high-density DVD recorders, HD DVD and Blu-ray. Rapid adoption by broadcasters will finally push European TV producers to start using HDTV recording equipment, which is already a pre- requisite for U.S.-based TV producers -- 70 percent of U.S. prime-time broadcasts are in HDTV. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Reed Stevenson Subject: Microsoft Sues Google Over Ex-Employee Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 12:57:28 -0500 By Reed Stevenson Microsoft Corp. asked a county judge on Friday to stop its newest rival Google Inc. from hiring a senior executive familiar with the world's largest software maker's plans in China. Microsoft, which already won a temporary restraining order last month to stop former vice president Kai-Fu Lee from starting his job at Google, stepped up its efforts to block Lee from working at Google by asking King County Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez for a preliminary injunction against hiring Lee. Microsoft argued in its motion that Lee, the former head of its Beijing research and development center, is violating a non-compete contract that he signed with Microsoft because he has intimate knowledge of Microsoft's operations in China, its competitive strategy against Google and recruiting efforts. "Allowing Dr. Lee to 'turn on a dime' and use this highly confidential information to do directly competing work for Google would undermine the most basic purpose of Dr. Lee's non-compete and non-disclosure promises to Microsoft," Microsoft argued in the court documents. Google disagreed, saying that Microsoft was "behaving as if they own Kai-Fu." "Kai-Fu wanted to work at Google, he told us that and we hired him. There's nothing illegal about that, that's fair game," Google's associate general counsel Nicole Wong, said in an e-mailed statement, "He's not going to work on anything at Google that is competitive with what he did at Microsoft." Microsoft and Google are locked in competition over search and other Web-based technologies, as well as for top software talent. Google plans to open a new facility in China later this year to develop new technologies and attract computer science researchers. A final location has not yet been chosen. Lee, a former Carnegie Mellon University researcher who previously worked for Apple Computer Inc., most recently oversaw groups at Microsoft developing speech recognition and other interactive technologies for computers. Google, based in Mountain View, California, counter-sued in its home state last month to block Microsoft's lawsuit and was set to contest the temporary restraining order next week in Washington state. The trial is scheduled for January 9, 2006, but Microsoft said that it is trying to fast-track legal proceedings because its non-compete contract with Lee is only effective for one year after his last day at Microsoft, which was July 18." Microsoft argued in Friday's filing that Lee had begun working with Google well before his last working day at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington. "As a senior Microsoft executive, Dr. Lee had frequent access to highly confidential competitive plans including plans to compete with Google," Microsoft said in its motion. According to Microsoft, Lee attended an internal briefing at Microsoft on March 24 for the software giant's top executives entitled "The Google Challenge" which Microsoft described as "highly confidential." Microsoft also detailed in its motion the pay package that Lee negotiated with Google, which was worth over $10 million, including a $2.5 million signing bonus, a $250,000 yearly salary, stock options worth more than $5 million and other perks. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Jan M. Olson Subject: Breaking Glaciers Imperil Arctic Lifestyle Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 12:59:49 -0500 By JAN M. OLSEN, Associated Press Writer Watching the gargantuan chunks of ice break off the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier and thunder into an Arctic fjord is a spectacular sight. To Greenland's Inuit population, it is also deeply worrisome. The frequency and size of the crumbling blocks are a powerful reminder that the ice sheet covering the world's largest island is thinning, which scientists say is one of the most glaring examples of global warming. "In the past we could walk on the ice in the fjord between the icebergs for a six-month period during the winter, drill holes and fish," said Joern Kristensen, a local fisherman. "We can only do that for a month or two now. It has become more difficult to drive dogs sleds because the ice between the icebergs isn't solid anymore." In 2002-2003, a six-mile stretch of the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier broke off and drifted silently out of the fjord near Ilulissat, Greenland's third largest town, 155 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Although Greenland is the prime example, scientists say the effects of climate change are noticeable throughout the Arctic region, from the northward spread of spruce beetles in Canada to melting permafrost in Alaska and northern Russia. Indigenous people who for centuries have adapted their lives to the cold, fear that the changes, however small and gradual, could have a profound impact. "We can see a trend that the fall is getting longer and wetter," said Lars-Anders Baer, a political leader for Sweden's indigenous Sami, a once-nomadic people with a long tradition of reindeer herding. "If the climate gets warmer, it is probably bad for the reindeer. New species (of plants) come in and suffocate other plants that are the main food for the reindeer," he said. Rising temperatures are also a concern in the Yamalo-Nenets region in Western Siberia, said Alexandr Navyukhov, 49. He is an ethnic nenet, a group that mostly lives off hunting, fishing and deer breeding. "We now have breams in our river, which we didn't have in the past because that fish is typical for warmer regions," he said. "On the one hand it may look like good news, but breams are predatory fish that prey upon fish eggs, often of rare kinds of fish." Melting permafrost has damaged hundreds of buildings, railway lines, airport runways and gas pipelines in Russia, according to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, a report commissioned by the Arctic Council and released in 2004. Research has also shown that populations of turbot, Atlantic cod and snow crab are no longer found in some parts of the Bering Sea, an important fishing zone between Alaska and Russia, and that flooding along the Lena River, one of Siberia's biggest, has increased with warming temperatures. In Greenland, Anthon Utuaq, a 68-year-old retired hunter, said he is worried a warmer climate will make it more difficult for his son to continue the family trade. "Maybe it will be difficult for him to find the seals," Utuaq said, resting on a bench in the east coast town of Kulusuk. "They will head north to colder places if it gets warmer." Arctic sea ice has decreased by approximately 8 percent, or 386,100 square miles over the past 30 years. In Sisimiut, Greenland's second-largest town, lakes have doubled in size in the last decade. "Greenland was perceived as this huge solid place that would never melt," said Robert Corell of the American Meteorological Society. "The evidence is now so strong that the scientific community is convinced that global warming is the cause." Climate change has been a hotly discussed issue for decades, but efforts to fight it have moved slowly. There is not even unanimity on how much of the problem is a result of human activity, notably the burning of fossil fuels, and how much of it can be attributed to natural processes. "We know that temperatures have gone up and it's partly caused by man. But let's hold our horses because it's not everywhere that the ice is melting. In the Antarctic, only 1 percent is melting," said Bjoern Lomborg, a Danish researcher who claims the threat of global warming has been exaggerated. What is clear is that the average ocean temperature off Greenland's west coast has risen in recent years -- from 38.3 F to 40.6 F and glaciers have begun to retreat, said Carl Egede Boeggild, a glaciologist with Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, a government agency. The Sermilik glacier in southern Greenland has retreated 6.84 miles, and the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier near Ilulissat also is moving at a faster pace, said Henrik Hoejmark Thomsen of the geological survey. In 1967, satellite imagery measured it moving at 4.3 miles per year. In 2003, it was twice that -- 8.1 miles per year. "What exactly happened, we don't know but it appears to be the effect of climate change," said Hoejmark Thomsen. Last month, U.S. scientists issued a report saying the rate of ice melting in the Arctic is increasing and within a century could lead to summertime ice-free ocean conditions not seen in the area in a million years, but they also note that the United States will not participate in efforts to stem the global warming. With warmer temperatures, some bacteria, plants and animals could disappear, while others will grow and thrive. Polar bears and other animals that depend on sea ice to breed and forage are at risk, scientists say. There are fears that polar bears and some seal species could face extinction in just decades because of global warming. The thinning of the sea ice presents a danger to both humans and polar bears, said Peter Ewins, director of Arctic conservations for the World Wildlife Fund Canada. "The polar bears need to be there to catch enough seals to see them through the summer in open warm water systems. Equally, the Inuit need to be out there on the ice catching seals and are less and less able to do that because the ice is more unstable, thinner," he said. When NASA started taking satellite images of the Arctic region in the late 1970s and computer technology improved, scientists noted alarming patterns and theorized they were caused by the emission of so-called greenhouse gases, emitted by industries and internal combustion engines, that create a heat-trapping layer in the atmosphere. Inuit leaders, like Sheila Watt-Cloutier whose efforts won her the 2005 Sophie environment prize in Norway earlier this year, are trying to draw attention to the impact of climate change and pollution on the traditional lifestyles of the Arctic's indigenous people. "When I was a child, the weather used to be more stable, it worries me to see and hear all this," Greenland Premier Hans Enoksen said on the sidelines of an environmental officials' meeting in Ilulissat last month. The meeting ended with statements of concern, sincere calls for measure to address the problem -- and no action. The Kyoto Protocol that took effect in February aims to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. But the 140 nations that have signed the pact don't include the United States, which itself is one of teh biggest producers -- one-quarter -- of the gases. U.S. President George W. Bush's administration claims that participa- ting in the pact would severely damage the U.S. economy. Many scientists say that position undermines the whole planet and they point to Greenland as the leading edge of what the globe could suffer. Some have suggested perhaps the U.S. economy needs to be changed. "Greenland is the canary in a mine shaft alerting us," said Corell, the American meteorologist. "In the U.S., global warming is a tomorrow issue. ... For us working here, it hits you like a ton of bricks when you see it." AP writers Maria Danilova and Jim Heintz in Moscow, Karl Ritter in Stockholm, Sweden, and Beth Duff-Brown in Toronto contributed to this report. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. More news from AP online at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 11:46:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Online Usage Plummets in Battered Gulf By BRUCE MEYERSON AP Business Writer The statistics make it look as if someone just flicked a switch and turned off the Internet, and that's not too far from the hurricane truth. In the battered Biloxi-Gulfport region of Mississippi, where about 160,000 people might go online during a typical weeknight, Internet usage had fallen "below reportable levels" by Tuesday, according to the tracking firm comScore Networks. The number of people logging on in New Orleans, usually 700,000 on an average weeknight, plunged 90 percent after Hurricane Katrina sent most of those Internet users fleeing and knocked out most of the telephone and electrical lines needed to connect any computer not submerged in the floods. On a more heartening note, comScore also reported Friday that online traffic to the RedCross.org is soaring: On Wednesday, nearly 1 million people visited the Web site, more than 32 times the average daily visit during the prior week. The hurricane's impact was also evident on the nation's long-distance phone networks, where the number of calls has jumped this week. However, with millions of local phone lines out of service in the Gulf region, the number of long-distance calls that aren't reaching their destination has surged as well. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51562492 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 11:46:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Phones, Computers Coming to Astrodome By MATT SLAGLE AP Technology Writer Thousands of Hurricane Katrina refugees packing into Houston's Astrodome are getting electronic access to the outside world. Corporations, volunteers and nonprofit agencies continued working Friday to install telephones and Internet-enabled computers inside the sprawling former sports stadium in one of many efforts aimed at bringing communications technologies to hurricane victims. Astrodome refugees, displaced from the Superdome in New Orleans, were getting 10 minute blocks of time to make free local and long distance calls. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51563478 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: See Mr. Slagle's entire report in the TELECOM Digest V24_#400 from Friday, September 2. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: RIP, Sussex Cellular Date: Fri, 02 Sep 2005 21:14:42 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Joseph wrote: > If you go to http://www.wirelessadvisor.com and put in the ZIP code > for rural locations such as in Maine or New Hampshire you'll see 800 > AMPS only providers listed. Curiously for many locations you'll also > see the company Nextwave at 1900 Mhz listed as well even though they > have no service! Of course ... Nextwave is the company that bid billions for PCS licenses, paid the FCC only a few million and then declared bankruptcy and held on for dear life to their PCS licenses, even though they never lit up a single tower. A portion of those PCS licenses were ultimately sold to Verizon Wireless (the deal closed early this year, earning Nextwave $3 billion). But what's left of Nextwave still owns spectrum, even though they're not doing anything with it and haven't for years. E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Is Verizon Wireless Sabotaging Older Cell Phones? Date: Fri, 02 Sep 2005 21:21:59 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com William Warren wrote: > So, the questions: > 1. 95% or 85%? 95% > 2. Is December 2005 still the deadline? Yes it is. > 3. What happens to those of us on Verizon's network without > GPS-enabled phones (such as, apparently, the Motorola 120C). Who knows? It would appear that Verizon is telling the FCC there's nothing they can do to force someone who doesn't want to swap their phone to do so. No telling if they'll be granted a waiver, or if they'll be required to force upgrades. E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers From: Kevin Buhr Date: Sat, 03 Sep 2005 02:38:53 GMT Bruce L. Bergman writes: > Oh, and it might be a "Joe Job" smear attempt instead, considering the > post has the (alleged) full name and address at the bottom. It *is* a Joe Job, and a ludicrously obvious one at that. Tom St.Denis is a frequent and valuable (if occasionally rather brusk) contributor to sci.crypt, and some nimrod he annoyed is obviously trying to cause major trouble for him. > I will complain to his hosting company and to Google (his GMail return > address) but it is much more effective if lots of people do it. Please don't. The message wasn't written by Tom, and it didn't originate from Google. Kevin ------------------------------ From: Dave Close Subject: Re: Is Malware Hiding in Your Windows Registry? Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 04:32:30 +0000 (UTC) Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California Elizabeth Montalbano writes: > Security experts have found a vulnerability in the Windows operating > system that could allow malware to lurk undetected in long string > names of the Windows Registry. The answer to the question is, yes, of course, there is malware in your Windows registry. But it isn't hiding; it's name is "registry". The registry /design/ is one of the main reasons Windows is vulnerable to so many attacks. Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Greed is to the moralists of the dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 left what sex is to the moralists dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu of the right." - Cathy Young Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Politics is the business of getting dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 power and privilege without dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu possessing merit." - P. J. O'Rourke ------------------------------ From: Steven Lichter Reply-To: Die@spammers.com Organization: I Kill Spammers, Inc. (c) 2005 A Rot in Hell Co. Subject: Last Laugh! I Called You Last Week Mortgage SCAM!!! Date: Sat, 03 Sep 2005 16:52:08 GMT This one has a toll free number to opt out. Give them a call to get you and all your net buddies off of their list and make some money for the pay phone operators. Liquid Marketing Inc 101 Plaza Real South Suite 208 Boca Raton, FL 33432 (866) 872-6022 Of course their address is a MB+ The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2005 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 V24 #401 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Sep 4 17:06:07 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 3E3311506B; Sun, 4 Sep 2005 17:06:07 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #402 Message-Id: <20050904210607.3E3311506B@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 17:06:07 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, US_DOLLARS_3 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sun, 4 Sep 2005 17:05:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 402 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Making Calls Without a Phone (Thomas J. Fitzgerald) Time to Ditch Your Land-Line Phone for VOIP (Liz Pulliam Weston) City Owned Cable Television Proposal Moves Forward (Monty Solomon) Katrina's Real Name (Monty Solomon) Intel Pledges 1,500 PCs, Wireless Access Equipment, Support (Monty Solomon) FCC Coordinating Tech Aid for Katrina Disaster (Monty Solomon) Giving Them What They Want (Monty Solomon) Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers (Mark Crispin) Katrina, the Terrorist Who Got Through The Metal Detector (Betty Bowers) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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: Thomas J. Fitzgerald Subject: How to Make Phone Calls Without a Telephone Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 14:26:53 -0500 By THOMAS J. FITZGERALD Internet telephone service is well on its way into the mainstream. Companies like Vonage, using a technology called voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, offer cheap long-distance rates and features not found with conventional phone service. Cable giants, too, are taking Internet phones to the masses. Now a subset of VoIP services, called PC-to-phone service, is gaining momentum. With these services, users can make calls to and receive calls from regular phones on their PC's as long they have a broadband connection, VoIP software downloaded from the Web and a headset. One advantage of such services is the ability to make calls through an Internet-connected laptop when cellular service is unreliable. Many people also prefer the convenience of talking while working on a PC; the services can operate while you are doing other tasks on the computer. Another advantage is price. PC-to-phone VoIP rates are less expensive than conventional phone calls and in many cases cheaper than phone-to-phone VoIP services, which route calls through broadband modems to regular phones. Early versions of these services have been around since the late 1990's, but the rise of Skype, a mostly free VoIP service using file-sharing technology, has increased competition in the field. Yahoo, America Online and Microsoft have each announced plans to add new phone services to future versions of their instant messaging programs. And last week, Google introduced Google Talk, a free service that enables users to talk through their computers and could be a first step toward a PC-to-phone service. PC-to-phone services available today from companies like Skype, SIPphone, i2Telecom and Dialpad Communications offer many features like free PC-to-PC calling, conference calls, voice mail, choice of phone numbers, call forwarding and reduced long-distance rates, especially for international calls. But as with phone-to-phone VoIP services, call quality is not always perfect. Skype (www.skype.com), a popular VoIP network based in Luxembourg, has had 51 million users register worldwide since its inception, with five million in the United States and an average of three million users logged on at any one time. To make free calls to other PC's, users simply download the Skype software from the Web site; the PC receiving the Skype call also has to be connected to the Skype network. For PC-to-phone calling, the company has added SkypeOut and SkypeIn. With SkypeOut, introduced last year and now having more than two million users, PC's with the Skype software are able to call conventional phones. Minutes are purchased in advance, and the price depends on the destination. Calls within the continental United States, for example, are 2.1 cents a minute; calls to New Delhi are 15.4 cents; Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2.5 cents; and Beijing, 2.1 cents. Those international rates are below what Vonage charges for VoIP calls from the United States to those cities, at 17 cents, 6 cents and 6 cents, respectively. With SkypeIn, introduced in March and still in the test stage, a phone number can be attached to a Skype account, enabling callers using regular phones to call you at your computer or leave messages in your Skype voice mail. You can choose a phone number from many area codes in the United States and also from several other countries. The service costs $12 for three months or $38 for a year. Another new option, Skype Zones, allows access to Skype from Wi-Fi hotspots operated by Boingo (www.boingo.com), which has 20,000 locations; the Skype Zones unlimited access plan costs $7.95 a month. A competing PC-to-phone service, called Gizmo Project (www.gizmoproject.com) from SIPphone, was introduced in July. Like Skype, Gizmo Project offers free PC-to-PC calls. It also offers Call Out, a service that allows calls to regular phones from your PC, and Call In, which enables a PC to receive calls from regular phones. Call Out costs 1.8 cents a minute for calls in the United States; the Call In plan costs $15 for three months or $30 for six months. A PC-to-phone service from i2Telecom, called VoiceStick http://www.voicestick.com , was introduced in March. Outbound and inbound calling can be controlled using VoiceStick's downloadable software or with an optional U.S.B. flash drive for portable access to the service. The drive, which costs an additional $34.99 and includes a mobile headset, comes with the VoiceStick software installed; it plugs into available U.S.B. ports on Windows-based computers, and a menu asks if you would like to begin using the service from the drive. The company offers several calling plans, including an unlimited global option, for $24.99 a month, which includes your own phone number and unlimited calling to points in the United States, Canada and hundreds of cities in 38 other countries and territories. Another feature, called i2Bridge, enables you to make calls to any destination, including international locations, from your cellphone or home phone at VoiceStick rates. Dialpad http://www.dialpad.com , another PC-to-phone service, offers monthly calling plans as well as prepaid minutes for outgoing calls. Subscribers can get 300 minutes a month for $7.50, 500 minutes for $9.99 and an unlimited option for $11.99, covering calls in the United States and Canada, with international calls costing extra. Prepaid or pay-as-you-go plans can be purchased for $15 and $25. Dialpad does not offer a service that allows PC's to accept incoming calls from regular phones. Dialpad was acquired by Yahoo in June, and its PC-to-phone abilities are expected to be added to a new version of Yahoo Messenger in the coming months, a Yahoo spokeswoman said. The Yahoo Messenger program was recently updated to include free PC-to-PC calling and free voice mail, and is now called Yahoo Messenger With Voice. Microsoft announced this week that it had acquired Teleo http://www.teleo.com , a PC-to-phone service with features that work with Internet Explorer and Microsoft Outlook, and plans to start adding components of Teleo's technology to MSN Messenger later this year. And AOL, using a partnership with Net2Phone http://www.net2phone.com , introduced a PC-to-phone service in 1999 called AIM Phone. The company has plans to supplant that service with a more full-featured VoIP service in a new version of its instant messaging program, which is likely to be available by the end of the year, according to an AOL spokeswoman. Net2Phone, the first company to offer PC-to-phone service in 1996, has expanded its services. With its software, downloadable from the Web, users can call regular phones worldwide. Most calls within the United States are 2 cents a minute, for example, and the service lets you fax documents from your computer. Several other PC-to-phone services are available, including iConnectHere http://www.iconnecthere.com , operated by Deltathree, which has a pay-as-you-go option in addition to monthly calling plans ($5.95 a month for 400 minutes within the United States and Canada, and $14.95 a month with 1,000 minutes in the United States and Canada and 250 minutes to selected countries overseas). With the number of PC-to-phone services growing quickly, the features and choices available to consumers are certain to expand. Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. To read the New York Times on line each day with no registration or login requirements, go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html ------------------------------ From: Liz Pulliam Weston Subject: Time to Ditch Your Landline Phone for VOIP? Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 13:59:14 -0500 Internet- and cable-based calling is coming into its own even as traditional phone companies merge -- with price hikes likely to follow. It may be time to rethink the way you ring. By Liz Pulliam Weston Two pending mergers -- SBC's takeover of AT&T and the combination of MCI with either Verizon or Qwest -- will leave fewer traditional phone competitors. Fewer competitors usually mean higher prices for customers. But you don't have to be held hostage to the new "Step-Ma Bells." Internet phone calling, according to those who have adopted it and analysts following the industry, is an option that's ready for prime time. A few weeks ago I used the word "evangelical" to describe people who have TiVos and other digital video recorders on their television sets. The same word applies to many of the 1 million customers who have switched to Vonage or one of the other so-called Voice-over-Internet-Protocol, or VoIP, phone systems. Both sets of fans tend to be: a.. Greatly impressed with the quality and features of their systems. b.. Amazed at the low prices they're paying. c.. Eager to convince everybody around them that they should switch. "I recommend it to everyone that will listen," said Travis Mack, a fire sprinkler engineering technician in O'Fallon, Mo., and a Vonage customer since last summer. "I truly believe that VoIP is the telecommunications wave of the future." Forget phone lines Internet calling services are designed to replace both your traditional land line and your long-distance provider. Instead of accessing phone lines or wireless networks to place your calls, the systems use your broadband connection. Your phone is connected to an adapter box, which in turn is connected to your cable or DSL modem. VoIP packages typically include, among other features: a.. Unlimited local and domestic long-distance calling. b.. Voice mail, call waiting, call forwarding, caller ID. c.. The ability to keep your current phone number or choose a new number with any area code you want from the provider's list. Vonage is the biggest player so far, with nearly 40% of the market. Other independent providers include 8x8, Net2Phone and VoicePulse. AT&T has a service as well, called CallVantage. The monthly cost is $20 to $30, although most services have a bare-bones option with limited minutes for $9 to $15. Now cable companies including Comcast and Time Warner are making big pushes into the market. Comcast launched VoIP in three markets last year -- Philadelphia, Indianapolis and Springfield, Mass. -- and plans to offer it to half of its 21 million customers by year-end, said company spokesman Bob Smith. The cable provider calls its offering Comcast Digital Voice, to distinguish it from its older phone service, Comcast Digital Phone. (Like some other cable companies, Comcast has long offered phone service using old-style "circuit switched" technology, using Internet protocol to send calls is a newer -- and less expensive -- innovation.) The cable companies tend to charge more: $35 to $55 a month, depending on whether or not you get television and broadband from them. And though they use the same technology to break voice calls into digital information as the other VoIP companies, cable providers use their own networks rather than the public Internet to transport calls, Smith said. Finally, one other player has announced plans to get into the market. AOL recently said it would offer the service to its 22 million subscribers, but it hasn't revealed its pricing. Unlimited calling, free services The unlimited free local, toll and long-distance calling that Mack gets with Vonage allowed him to drop his land line and opt for a cheaper cellular plan. He's also started to use -- and like -- the free services, like caller ID and call forwarding, that he didn't use with his previous phone company because of the expense. Mack also likes the fact he can get his voice mail by e-mail, a service his former provider didn't offer, and that he can take his Vonage service anywhere he travels that has a broadband connection. "I have taken my (Vonage adapter) box to another state and had my telephone number ring wherever I am," Mack said. "You are not tied down to a permanent location with a telephone number like you are with a land line." All this for $8 a month less than Mack was spending just for his land line. Mack figures he saves at least $23 a month, and far more when he considers the many months in the past he went over his cell-phone minutes limit, racking up as much as $100 a month in overage charges. "Another nice feature is that for $5 a month, we have a virtual number in another state that allows some of our out-of-town friends and family in Arizona to call us as a local call ... saving them long-distance charges as well," Mack said. "As for the clarity of the phone, I promise that I could give anyone a land line and the VoIP line and you could not tell the difference." Such was not always the case. Allen Tsong of Brooklyn tried an earlier version of VoIP and wasn't impressed. Outages and poor phone quality were common. But Tsong said problems have been few since he switched to Vonage in 2002. Now he uses the service both at home and at his Brooklyn wholesale handbag business, Yans NY. Tsong said he makes lots of calls to Hong Kong and China, so Vonage's low international rates save him money. The rates "are comparable to prepaid calling cards," Tsong said, but he doesn't have to worry about running out of minutes or buying new cards. A few challenges. So why isn't everyone rushing to sign up for Internet calling? There are still some barriers and drawbacks, including: The need for broadband. You need high-speed Internet access to have these services. If you're still on dial-up, the cost for DSL or a cable modem can add $20 to more than $50 a month to your telecommunications bill. If you're a very heavy phone user, you may still save enough to offset the cost, plus you'll get speedy Internet access. If you're an infrequent caller on a tight budget, though, the math may not work. The possibility of outages. Your service may be only as good as your high-speed connection. If your cable modem or DSL goes on the fritz, you won't be able to make VoIP calls. Also, the services themselves can have problems; Vonage recently experienced a 45-minute outage thanks to a software upgrade that went awry. Dead jacks. The services typically only work on one or two phone jacks. If you have extensions in other rooms, you may need to buy an adapter or get a new phone -- the kind that has a base station that broadcasts to extra handsets. Also, if you have other things plugged into that line -- like your TiVo, for example, or a home alarm system -- you may need a wireless adapter, or you may need to keep a land line active. Emergency calls. The independent Internet calling services typically aren't hooked in with city 911 locator systems, so the operator wouldn't be able to see your home address if you make an emergency call and can't talk or get cut off. (This typically isn't a problem with the cable companies' networks, which are tied in with cities' enhanced 911 services.) Some users of independent Internet services keep a land line or use a cell phone with enhanced 911 locator services to deal with the issue. Louis Holder, Vonage executive vice president, said the company is working on solutions. Right now, Vonage routes 911 calls from registered users to the nearest available emergency facility, and it recently introduced enhanced 911 with address locator capabilities in Rhode Island. "We're where the phone companies were in the mid-1990s," when 911 locators were far from universal, Holder said. Liz Pulliam Weston's column appears every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions in the Your Money message board. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, MSN Money. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 14:16:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: City Owned Cable Television Proposal Moves Forward BURLINGTON, Vt. --Burlington's proposal to own and operate its own cable television system is moving forward. Burlington Telecom is seeking a certificate of public good from the Vermont Public Service Board. On Friday, Adelphia Communications, the sole provider of cable television programming to Burlington residents, did not request any additional oral arguments in the case. A board hearing officer last week recommended to the board that Burlington receive a certificate. Parties to the application -- the city, Adelphia and the New England Cable & Telecommunications Association -- had until Friday to file written comment about the hearing officer's findings or request additional oral argument. Friday, both the city and Adelphia sent written comments, but neither side requested oral argument. http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2005/09/03/city_owned_cable_television_proposal_moves_forward/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 15:05:51 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Katrina's Real Name By Ross Gelbspan THE HURRICANE that struck Louisiana yesterday was nicknamed Katrina by the National Weather Service. Its real name is global warming. When the year began with a two-foot snowfall in Los Angeles, the cause was global warming. When 124-mile-an-hour winds shut down nuclear plants in Scandinavia and cut power to hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland and the United Kingdom, the driver was global warming. When a severe drought in the Midwest dropped water levels in the Missouri River to their lowest on record earlier this summer, the reason was global warming. In July, when the worst drought on record triggered wildfires in Spain and Portugal and left water levels in France at their lowest in 30 years, the explanation was global warming. When a lethal heat wave in Arizona kept temperatures above 110 degrees and killed more than 20 people in one week, the culprit was global warming. And when the Indian city of Bombay (Mumbai) received 37 inches of rain in one day -- killing 1,000 people and disrupting the lives of 20 million others -- the villain was global warming. As the atmosphere warms, it generates longer droughts, more-intense downpours, more-frequent heat waves, and more-severe storms. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/08/30/katrinas_real_name/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 16:20:12 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Intel Pledges 1,500 PCs, Wireless Access Equipment, Tech Support CORRECTING and REPLACING Intel Pledges 1,500 PCs, Wireless Access Equipment, Technical Support for Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Efforts; Company Working with American Red Cross to Provide Critical Communications Support - Sep 2, 2005 10:20 PM (BusinessWire) SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 2, 2005--In BW5611 issued Sept. 2, 2005: Please replace the headline and release with the following corrected version due to multiple revisions. The release reads: INTEL PLEDGES 1,500 PCs, WIRELESS ACCESS EQUIPMENT, TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR HURRICANE KATRINA DISASTER RELIEF EFFORTS Company Working with American Red Cross to Provide Critical Communications Support Intel Corporation today announced it is coordinating the donation of 1,500 laptop personal computers to the American Red Cross for distribution to shelters in support of Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts. In addition, Intel will donate 150 wireless Internet access points to enable wireless local area connectivity in all permanent shelters and is providing fifty Wi-Fi transmitters for installation in the New Orleans downtown and airport area. Intel employees will provide on-site technical assistance to ensure the success of all technical deployments. The PCs will be configured by Intel and its partners according to Red Cross requirements to allow shelters to exchange important information with the organization's headquarters regarding victim status, resource needs and case management. These systems, along with broadband access, will also provide the technology backbone that provides thousands of hurricane victims with a means of communicating with relatives, verifying their identity for emergency fund distribution, contacting social services and accessing information important to their relocation. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51563796 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 16:29:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Coordinating Tech Aid for Katrina Disaster Quick notes from conference call hosted by the FCC today about urgently coordinating resources and personnel from internet/wireless service providers to get communications networks up and running in in gulf states. Lack of communications systems has been identified as a critical issue holding back aid, missing persons, law enforcement, etc. in crisis areas. FCC personnel are working throughout the weekend to coordinate these efforts with private industry, with wireless technology groups, FEMA, and state governments in Mississippi, Louisiana, etc. http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/02/fcc_coordinating_tec.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 01:02:09 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Giving Them What They Want By LYNN HIRSCHBERG After three decades in the TV business, Leslie Moonves, the chairman of CBS and the person most responsible for taking the network from last place to first in the ratings, has figured out a few things about what people want to see when they turn on their televisions. 'Americans do not like dark,' Moonves told me last May, before a scheduling meeting to select CBS's fall 2005 lineup. Moonves, who was wearing a gray suit, white shirt and diagonally striped maroon and navy tie, was in a wood-paneled corner office on the 35th floor of Black Rock, the longtime home of CBS on 52nd Street in Manhattan. The office used to belong to William S. Paley, the legendary tycoon who personified CBS for more than 60 years. Truman Capote once remarked that Paley 'looks like a man who has just swallowed an entire human being,' and Moonves has that same sort of aggressive vigor -- an almost palpable appetite and enthusiasm for the complications and constant challenges of network TV. On this particular Thursday, at 11 a.m., Moonves was considering which of the network's current shows to cancel in order to make room for new programs. He had decided to take a once-promising show called 'Joan of Arcadia' off the air. The show was about a teenager who receives directives and advice straight from God. 'In the beginning, it was a fresh idea and uplifting, and the plot lines were engaging,' Moonves said, sounding a little sad and frustrated. 'But the show got too dark. I understand why creative people like dark, but American audiences don't like dark. They like story. They do not respond to nervous breakdowns and unhappy episodes that lead nowhere. They like their characters to be a part of the action. They like strength, not weakness, a chance to work out any dilemma. This is a country built on optimism.' One key to running a successful broadcast network is understanding just this kind of thing: what the audience wants -- sometimes even before it knows that it wants it. Like a candidate seeking election, a network and its shows are voted into prominence by the public. The people either tune in or they don't. Unlike the movie business or the premium cable industry (of which HBO is emblematic), which charge for their products and have much smaller, more homogeneous audiences, broadcast TV aims to attract the tens of million of Americans who might watch CBS (or ABC or NBC or Fox) on any given night. In recent years, CBS shows like 'C.S.I.,' 'Survivor' and 'Everybody Loves Raymond' have enticed those multitudes, and as a result the network has soared in the ratings. Moonves said that he hopes to have another success (or several) of that magnitude this coming season. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/magazine/04MOONVES.html?ex=1283486400&en=ef2eed3e40ce14d9&ei=5088 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? Date: 3 Sep 2005 20:10:35 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com There's been a great deal of criticism of the response of 'government', especially the Federal level, to help the flood victims. If one takes a step back and looks at the big picture, one wonders if the criticism is justified. Perhaps the emotional pictures of people suffering are skewing emotions. Perhaps old fashioned politics is playing a role. There's no doubt that this is a major disaster and people are suffering horribly. Even Bush says so. There's no doubt a thorough and impartial review of what happened when is required. But for now, let's take a look at the logistics and communications. What troubles me is that many of the critical internet posts and editorials and clearly political in nature, that is, writers previously disliked Bush and are fishing for more reasons. Any writing that mentions Iraq, 'uncaring government' (like David Brooks of the NYT did), past funding, were obviously badly biased. A lot of people don't like Bush or Iraq, but that does not necessarily mean the response now is bad. I can't help but wonder if TV's constant views of human suffering tugs on emotions and not logic. I wonder if there should be more shots showing how difficult it is to transport supplies in a flooded area where roads and communications are down. I understand the Army has been trying to repair the broken flood dikes all along but there were very few TV pictures of that work. Maybe TV scenes of sandbags aren't as 'grabbing' as people suffering, but it IS a big part of the story and I think more should've been featured on the news. When I mentioned my concerns to people, they responded, "well, just look at TV!". Our news from TV is very selective. TV is not always objective because it must always be interesting to hold the viewer's interest. No viewers, no reason to exist. I've seen flooded areas and was impressed at the enormous amounts of police / fire /resuce / cleanup services required. These areas were far smaller in size -- a couple of square miles -- with only about 500 affected people. Helping 500 people is a lot easier than helping 100,000 people. That means multiplying a massive expensive effort 200 times! My biggest question is the daunting logistics of caring for many THOUSANDS of people, perhaps a full 100,000 people. It does appear that a great many people -- for whatever reason -- could not or would not evacuate the city and were left behind. Obviously some water was getting to them otherwise they would have died by Wednesday. With most roads cut off and poor communiations, how does one get water for 100,000 people into a destroyed city and then distributed, in an orderly fashion, to those who need it? What about food and medicine? Where do these supplies come from? Where will the delivery trucks come from? Who organizes and dispatches the effort? Another issue is the time delay. In other floods, the water recedes after a few days allowing transport to resume and cleanup to begin. So, emergency supplies are only needed for a few days. But, New Orleans won't dry out for some time so supplies for many more days is needed. Again, where will these come from and get distributed? Likewise with evacuation. In the flooding I've seen, they've opened schools on higher ground which can accomodate 500 people and usually still have power. Where do you put 100,000 people when a whole area is devastated and there's no place to go? Who has 100,000 cots just waiting around nearby? How will people get to the emergency centers, especially if they're located many miles away and roads are blocked? One newscaster said they should've used army trucks. Think about it. A bus holds 50 people. You'd need 2,000 buses to move 100,000 people. Suppose a bus can make 4 trips during the evacuation, so you only need 500 buses. Who's got 500 buses, fuel for them, and drivers, all just sitting around ready for use on the first day? An army truck, as some newscasters suggested, holds even less people. Do they have 500 trucks, fuel, and drivers just sitting around close to New Orleans? I don't know what the people did who got trapped in the city. The first question is why they could not or would not leave as directed; but obviously providing transport and shelter for so many people before the storm on short notice would've been terribly difficult. I don't know what the city and state emergency plans were. The city and state have primary responsibility in this situation. I don't know when the recognized the magnitude of the disaster and what their responses were. When did they call in the feds and what did they ask for? (Local officials have to make the call to the feds.) I wonder how many Louisanna State Police and local police from other La. towns were brought in as soon as the flooding started. Who was in charge of operations in the city? In looking over the logistics -- many thousands of people needing help NOW! -- I wonder if our expectations of government miracles are too high. We're used to instant gratification from the Internet and TV. But maybe in the real world things work a little differently. [public replies only, please] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa makes some very good points. I do not intend to kick those people while they are down, but there _was_ a lot of politics involved as well. An alternative point of view is also presented in this issue of the Digest, from Miss Betty Bowers who is frequently known as "America's Best and Most Fabulous Christian". Ms. Bower's commentary appears in the final spot in this issue, a place which is usually reserved for the Last Laugh. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 10:17:05 -0700 Organization: Networks & Distributed Computing On Sat, 3 Sep 2005, Kevin Buhr wrote: > It *is* a Joe Job, and a ludicrously obvious one at that. Tom > St.Denis is a frequent and valuable (if occasionally rather brusk) > contributor to sci.crypt, and some nimrod he annoyed is obviously > trying to cause major trouble for him. I don't know if you realize it, but you just did the same thing. You just accused hunters of being behind the Joe Job. For your information, a nimrod is a hunter. Clueless cityfolk seem to have a notion that this funny-sounding word is an insult. It is not. Nimrod first appears in the Bible in Gen. 10:8-12 as "the first on earth to be a mighty man. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord." The other mentions of Nimrod are Mic. 5:6 and I. Chron 1:10, where Assyria is called the "land of Nimrod". Apparently, Nimrod is the ancient Hebrew name of the Mesopotamian hero Gilgamesh. It is high praise to call a hunter a "nimrod". A community that objects vociferously to misuse of "hacker" should not misuse "nimrod". -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: Betty Bowers Subject: Katrina, the Terrorist Who Got Through The Metal Detector Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 14:12:41 -0500 From: Betty Bowers -- America's Best Christian Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 2:51 PM Subject: Betty Bowers Newsletter: Katrina, the Terrorist Who Got Through The Metal Detector I see that our gallant President has decided that it is taking far too long for Iraq to look like America, So he has decided to meet them halfway by making New Orleans look like Baghdad. Only, perhaps, he went too far, as New Orleans could only aspire to a lawless anarchy as dry as Iraq's. And here I thought dear Katherine Harris and her faux-felon purge was the model for trimming the voting lines of Democrats! Frankly, Katherine's glorious efforts to relieve the registration lists of nefarious liberals can't hold a candle to the magnificent indolence of FEMA in New Orleans. And while dead people may vote (especially in Ohio), they don't show up in court to whine about being harassed at the polls. Glory! Yes, it has been four long years since 9/11 (registered trademark) and nothing has apparently been done in this country to prepare for or help a disaster (an alarming fact that was amply proven on "Being Bobby Brown"). But I am getting increasingly impatient with liberals bellyaching that Katrina serves to underscore a lack of planning on the part of our President. On the contrary, dears: it shows an arrangement that works just like it is supposed to not work! You see, Mr. Bush wisely cut the budgets for emergency response agencies and the rebuilding of levees in New Orleans to pay for our efforts to establish an Islamic theocracy in Iraq (and to send emergency tax relief to desperate people not nearly as liquid as New Orleans, desperately clinging to billions tied up in real estate and leaking stock portfolios). Who was to fill the gap, impertinent fact-obsessed people ask? Well, American's religious corporations, mouths agape under the bounteous spigots of tax-dollars flowing to faith-based initiated! That is why FEMA lists Brother-in-Christ (and assassination cheerleader) Pat Robertson's very own Operation Blessing as one of the first places you should think about when sending dollars to help poor people being devoured by rats and red ants in New Orleans. Say what you will about Brother Pat, but he knows how to loot without getting wet! Glory! The tiny snag with relying on churches to fill the gap left by a government too preoccupied with the testosterone of waging war abroad to succumb to the girly impulse of feeding those left at home, is that the churches with the most money didn't get that way by turning it over to those in need. Indeed, in a novel twist on Scripture, most American Christian mega-churches have been called by the Lord Jesus to get money from the poor -- not the other way around. This is precisely why it was the secular Astrodome in Houston, not Joel Osteen's new 16,000-seat indoor stadium (former home of the Houston Rockets) that threw open its doors to the poor and needy. After all, a stadium full of poor people with diseases would simply ruin the bottom line by keeping out rich people with tithes. Besides, who wants a bunch of water-logged black people dripping all over the recent $75,000,000 renovation? Not Jesus! Let me take a moment to join President Bush in praising his administration's inerrant efforts in response to Hurricane Katrina. The administration's initial, rather crafty response was a calmness that absently flirted with disinterest, so as not to let the water know that it had won. A still-vacationing W strummed a guitar (pronounced "git-tawr") while New Orleans burned. No, that was Rome: New Orleans drowned. And Condoleezza Rice, always the go-to gal for feigning obviousness with alarming verisimilitude, went shoe shopping in New York for a kicky little something to wear to giggle herself to death at Spamalot. As she might have told Louisiana children dying without needed medications in the Ninth Ward, had she actually been there to speak to them: "Don't worry about not having penicillin, kiddies. As any rich Broadway cognoscenti will tell you -- laughter is truly the best medicine! Don't touch the Ferragamos!" Following Condi's always exemplary coolness in the face of disaster (which she seems to have appropriated from Terri Schiavo), our handsome President hasn't been without solutions to the current crisis. Why, just today he offered the sage and innovative suggestion: "If you don't need gas, don't buy it." Pesto -- problem solved! (Well, for that one lady out in Indianapolis who doesn't drive.) Actually, a better suggestion would have been: "Instead of wasting money on gay, use the money to buy gas stock instead because when it comes to making the best out of a crisis, nobody comes close to America's oil companies. Yee-haw!" Or, better yet, sell the lumber from what used to be your house in Biloxi on E-bay and use the few dollars you get to buy Halliburton stock. Shares in that company, which Dick Cheney still gets money from, sold for $8.60 in 2002. Yesterday, they hit $63.44. Don't tell me the Lord doesn't turn lemons in to lemonade! Glory! Of course, the first priority of our proactive President was to do what the White House always does to solve any problem: schedule a panacean photo-op! So, four long days after Katrina hit, President Bush stood in Mobile before news cameras, looking like what he thought a concerned person would look like. America watched in heartened triumph as the head of FEMA told Mr. Bush that the water that submerged New Orleans had gotten there because something called "levees" had broken. Who knew? Here it is Friday, and it is such a joy to watch as someone finally shares with Mr. Bush what the rest of us knew (and, apparently, were selfishly keeping to ourselves) all week. Now, the only thing left for we Christians to do is to decide the most important issue: who exactly was the loving Lord trying to kill with Katrina? While many of my fellow right-wing Christians bicker over whether it was a Great Flood aimed at homosexuals or abortionists, I think one thing is clear: when it comes to poor black people without food or drinkable water, the Lord has quite an axe to grind. Well, all I can say is if a terrorist blows up Chicago or a major earthquake decimates Los Angeles, make sure you have batteries in your flashlights and learn to drink sewage with a smile because the Bush administration is otherwise distracted, dismissive and disinterested, dears. You're on your own. Welcome to the new, every-man-for-himself America! Glory! So close to Jesus, I can be driven to Crawford, Texas without even seeing the inconveniently mewling mother my SUV limo is splashing with mud, Mrs. Betty Bowers America's Best Christian (A woman known throughout Christendom for her joie d'aprs vivre) Copyright Mrs. Betty Bowers 2005 Subscribe to or otherwise read Mrs. Betty Bowers frequent columns and view the interesting graphics which accompanied this article at: http://www.bettybowers.com/nl_090205.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Decisions, decisions! Should this item be today's 'Last Laugh!' feature? I decided against titleing it such, since there are many, many heartbroken residents today who call or called New Orleans their 'home'. But Mrs. Bowers, fabulous Christian and all that, does frequently hit the hammer squarely on the nail, as I think she did this time. For an alternative viewpoint, also see the essay (Flood Relief - Unfair Criticism) in today's issue of the Digest from Lisa Hancock. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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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. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ 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. 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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. 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 V24 #402 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Sep 4 23:59:04 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 4CB0514EC7; Sun, 4 Sep 2005 23:59:04 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #403 Message-Id: <20050905035904.4CB0514EC7@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 23:59:04 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sun, 4 Sep 2005 23:58:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 403 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Some Wireless Service Now Repaired in New Orleans (Reuters News Wire) Getting Electricity Restored to Gulf Coast Area (Ron Scherer) Internet is Bulletin Board For Katrina Victims (Todd Eastham) Let Stockholders Decide Verizon-MCI Merger Fate (Murray Sabrin) Verizon Files First Lawsuit Against Telemarketing Company (Linda Johnson) Congress Weighing New Rules for Cable Franchises (Janice Morse) The Mobile Snatchers (Mark Halper) Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? (John Hines) Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criiicism? (John L. Shelton) Re: Katrina's Real Name (Steve Sobol) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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: Reuters News Wire Subject: Some Wireless Service Now Repaired in New Orleans Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 18:07:20 -0500 Verizon Wireless to deploy mobile units to storm-ravaged areas NEW YORK - A number of wireless carriers said this weekend they are starting to restore service in the New Orleans area in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, in some cases with generators on the roofs of hotels. The collapse of the communications network in the New Orleans area has been widely blamed for contributing to the disaster there, as local officials were unable to talk to each other and to federal authorities to arrange relief in the days after Katrina laid waste to the city. Verizon Wireless said it is at work restoring parts of New Orleans and surrounding areas including Mandeville, Lacombe, Hammond and Covington. It has also restored Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, which is being used for relief airlifts. The company, a venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone, said it has restored service in Baton Rouge and Jackson, Mississippi, and is working to bring back Mobile and Biloxi. In addition, Verizon said late Saturday it was awaiting approval to deploy COWs -- Cells on Wheels -- to boost coverage in the affected areas. T-Mobile USA said late Saturday it has set up a cell site on the roof of a hotel on Canal St. in New Orleans, running on a generator, and has reestablished service in many areas of the flooded-out city. T-Mobile said its network is now available at the Superdome, the convention center and Armstrong Airport. The company's main hardware in the area survived the storm, it said. T-Mobile is a unit of Deutsche Telekom. Sprint Nextel Corp. was more cautious on New Orleans, saying as of Saturday night that it remained challenging. The company said it has assembled a team in Baton Rouge to make repairs in areas where it was deemed safe. The company, whose Nextel phones are popular for their walkie-talkie capabilities, has provided 3,000 phones to relief officials. A spokesman for Cingular Wireless was not immediately available to comment on the state of their network in the region. Copyright 2005, Reuters URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9207212/ NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Ron Scherer Subject: Getting Electricity Back to the Gulf Coast Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 18:18:17 -0500 http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0902/p02s02-ussc.html By Ron Scherer | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor NEW YORK - Heat. Humidity. Fifteen- to 16-hour days. Not to mention snakes and high-voltage wires. Jeff Malaby knows that conditions will be tough as he and thousands of other electric utility workers head to the Gulf Coast to restore power in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. But repairing the damage to the electrical system is vital for the region to regain its footing. Without power, essential services -- from sewage plants to hospitals -- can't operate. Police officers are unable to recharge their phones. The need is also pressing to repower the giant refineries that supply an important portion of the nation's gasoline. And at some point, the crews will start the long process of connecting homes so that air conditioners and dehumidifiers can run again. "Electricity is always a priority in disasters," says Jane Bullock, a former chief of staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and now an adjunct professor at the George Washington University Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management. "For essential functions, it is just necessary." The process is likely to be long. Some 2.8 million customers lost their power in the region. And it's not just a matter of restringing electric wire as crews did in Florida after Katrina passed through there. "I expect to see complete devastation, and our efforts will be to completely rebuild the lines," says Mr. Malaby, a Dominion Virginia Power worker who just finished leading a team of 50 in south Florida. But utility companies, particularly those in storm-prone areas, have considerable experience rebuilding the electrical system. They usually start with a broad assessment of damages, says Ken Hall, director of security, transmission, and distribution operations at the Edison Electric Institute in Washington: "They need to determine what needs to be replaced, to determine whether the power lines were blown down or something landed on them." Mr. Hall says the normal process is for some crews to work on the transmission system -- that is, the large voltage lines transporting electricity from the generating station to the substation. These lines are typically mounted on large metal towers that tend to survive storms better than the wooden poles moving electricity to residential and commercial customers. At the same time, other crews will tackle the distribution system, working out from the substation. They will repair the main lines, then the lines leading into neighborhoods, and finally the hookup to homes, says Hall. Getting the electricity back in downtown New Orleans, however, will be more challenging. For one thing, some of the electric lines are below ground. If mud and water have seeped into the electrical wiring, the cable will have to be replaced. Depending on the damage, crews can often get electricity restored relatively quickly. After hurricane Ivan, they averaged between five and 10 days to rebuild the systems, says Hall. Thursday, in the aftermath of Katrina, Florida Power & Light Company reported that it had returned power to 99 percent of its customers. (Some 15,490 were still without electricity.) The Florida utility company also released 1,000 restoration workers -- most from other utility companies -- so they could head for the Gulf region. Among them is Malaby and his 50-person crew from Virginia. Thursday, they were heading to Amite, La., a staging ground for repair work, to join up with more than 300 other workers from Virginia. For the trip to the Gulf, Malaby is buying bottled water and nonperishable food supplies so the crew can be self-sustaining for a few days. "We won't be getting three square meals a day, and we'll probably be sleeping on cots in a gymnasium," he says. "I have some concerns about the sanitary conditions as well." But despite the harsh conditions, it's a job he's volunteered for. "There is a lot of job satisfaction in these efforts," he says. It's one of the reasons the crew will work extra hours. "Sometimes if you are close to getting people back their power, you don't want to leave until you get it done," he says. "Some people are eternally grateful. There can be hugging and kissing and people offering you sodas." www.csmonitor.com | Copyright 2005 The Christian Science Monitor. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Read the Christian Science Monitor on line each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html (far right column). *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, the Christian Science Publishing Society. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Todd Eastham Subject: Internet is Bulletin Board For Katrina Victims Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 17:01:41 -0500 By Todd Eastham After 9/11, descriptions and photos of missing family, friends and co-workers were plastered on walls and bulletin boards in lower Manhattan, but with New Orleans a ghost town after Hurricane Katrina, the Internet is now the medium of choice for those seeking lost loved ones. "My aunt Geraldine, age 95, lives with her 75-year-old daughter, my first cousin Bernadine Givens ... in New Orleans. ... We believe Geraldine's 76-year-old half brother, my uncle Raul Maurice, was also with them," read one posting on craigslist.org, a popular community bulletin board. "Geraldine is in a wheelchair. Please Help Me. I spoke with them on Sunday August 28th, the day before Katrina hit ... and nothing since," said the posting under the "missing people" icon in a New Orleans section of that site. While the power of the Internet offers promise to people struggling to reconnect with hurricane survivors, people and pets, several phone calls on Sunday -- six days after the Category 4 storm hit the Gulf Coast -- yielded only one happy outcome, recounted by Kristina Carapina, 21, of Houston. "Today is my birthday and yesterday I heard from the Red Cross that they were rescued from the roof. "They called at 11:30 last night from a shelter. ... They were in St. Bernard, the worst hit area. They were on the roof for five days." 'They' were her boyfriend Brian, 27, Tim McHughes, 24, and their mother, Dianne Clement. They were "a little worn out and bruised up, but they're good. "They brought a barbecue up to the roof. They had some canned food." Still, two people from that family remained unaccounted for in the ruined city -- a grandmother and an uncle. 'SEARCHING FOR MY COUSINS' And that was among the most gratifying outcomes. Salvador Mendez of Ohio's posting on craigslist read: "I am searching for my cousins, David Roberto, Luis or Matilde Mendez of Taqueria Corona as well as their mother Aminta Hue zo Parada." Contacted on Sunday, Mendez said, "Unfortunately, I don't have any news about them." He had also posted notices on the New Orleans site nola.com and findkatrina.com. Of those sites, he and others said craigslist was most user friendly. The Web search wasn't limited to people. Billie Sue Bruce of Jonesville, Virginia, said she was outraged to see television footage of a white bichon dog named Snowball torn from a little boy's arms by a guardsman as the boy was evacuated by bus. Bruce posted a $500 reward for return of the dog to the boy and was joined by others. The reward, now posted on craiglist, and other sites like http://savejustone.com and http://smallpawsrescue.com, had risen to $2,500 with other contributors. "That story terribly upset me because it was a combination of a child's heartbreak and an abandoned pet," said Bruce. Bjay Lateny of San Diego posted on craigslist a search for Marie-Helen Poulaert from Belgium, saying she had used the Web site in the past for "getting rid of stuff in my backyard ... looking for work," but never for anything like this. "I went to high school with her in northern Arizona. She was an exchange student. But I've had no word. You're actually the first call," she told this reporter. News Web sites including CNN.com have also set up Internet help centers, including missing persons lists, resources for survivors, ways to donate and volunteer. The success of these sites in bringing survivors together with friends and loved ones could not be immediately determined. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Also consider http://wwl.com which is maintained by WWL-TV, channel 4 in New Orleans. There was something on http://wwl.com inquiring about Mark Cuccia. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Murray Sabrin Subject: Let Stockholders Decide Verizon-MCI Merger's Fate Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 18:01:56 -0500 Published in the Asbury Park Press 09/4/05 BY MURRAY SABRIN The conventional wisdom about a business merger, especially when it leads to a near monopolistic control of a market, is that it is anti-competitive and thus should be disallowed by government regulators. The proposed merger between Verizon and MCI is being opposed by consumer advocates and others because the new company would provide more than 80 percent of the wired phone connections in its regional market. According to the conventional wisdom, a Verizon-MCI alliance would be an example of a "monopolistic" company that will drive up prices and stifle competition in the telecommunications market. On the face of it, opponents of the Verizon-MCI merger may have had a strong case if the world of telecommunications today looked like it did prior to the 1984 breakup of AT&T. Pre-1984, AT&T did have a 100 percent telephone monopoly in most regions of the country. AT&T also was the nation's only long-distance phone carrier at the time. However, after the Justice Department ordered the AT&T breakup, the regional Baby Bells, as they were called, became regional phone monopolies. AT&T became a long-distance carrier and began to face competition from Sprint and MCI. Since the 1980s, virtually all the original seven Baby Bells have merged with one another and other phone companies. The remaining regional entities are SBC, Verizon, Bell South and Qwest, a non-Baby Bell that merged with US West. Currently, SBC is seeking regulatory approval to merge with AT&T, while Verizon is seeking to merge with MCI. Opponents of the Verizon-MCI merger assert that consumers will pay higher prices than they ought to because the new firm will have a near monopoly in its operating region. "Nonsense", respond the proponents of the Verizon-MCI merger. At the local level, telephone calling prices may be on the verge of an historical downward adjustment because of the latest technological developments. The telecommunications world of the 1980s and even 1990s is gone forever. Cell phones, once a bulky, weighty and expensive piece of hardware that cost users about $1 a minute for service, has been replaced by units that fit in the palm of your hand and cost less than $50. Competition has driven the price of cell phone calls to about a penny a minute. In addition, more than a third of local phone calls and more than 60 percent of long-distance calls are made on wireless networks. In short, consumers are giving up their land lines, the ones provided by the Baby Bells, such as Verizon. Meanwhile, cable companies are not your parents' or grandparents' cable company any more. They are providing not only clear reception, on demand video services and premium channels, but they also are in the telecommunications business, competing with the phone companies. Cable companies provide Internet access as well as phone service. VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) technology has revolutionized the telecommunications industry. Consumers can now send and receive voice, video and data through their computer without the use of a telephone. To state that telecommunications is changing rapidly is an understatement, if there ever was one. Technological breakthroughs are working their way from the laboratory to the marketplace in record-breaking speed. Companies cannot rely on their brand names or traditional infrastructure to meet the needs of consumers. Cable companies, wireless firms and phone companies are in one of the most competitive environments we have witnessed in our history. If firms like Verizon and MCI believe their strategic goals and competitive advantages can be met by becoming one entity, then shareholders should make that determination, not regulators. The intense domestic and global competitive forces will cause telecommunications companies, especially the remaining Baby Bells, to provide consumers with high-quality and lower priced services - or else. The name of the game is market share and utilizing the latest technological innovations that drive prices down. If a company, no matter how large its market share, does not embrace new technologies or meet its customers' needs, there are more than enough competitors for consumers to choose from. Opponents of the proposed Verizon-MCI merger are "fighting the last war" -- preventing two merged companies from having more than 80 percent market share of a diminishing market. As long as a combined Verizon-MCI delivers services that its customers approve, then the marketplace will have spoken. Otherwise, Verizon-MCI's competitors, cable companies, wireless companies and unbeknownst firms in the future will be more than happy to sign up its customers. Murray Sabrin is professor of finance in the School of Business at Ramapo College of New Jersey, Mahwah. Copyright 2005 Asbury Park Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, Asbury Park Press. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Linda A. Johnson Subject: Verizon Wireless Files First Lawsuit Against Telemarketers Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 18:03:44 -0500 By Linda A. Johnson, The Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. -- Verizon Wireless has sued a pair of telemarketing companies, accusing them of illegally soliciting the company's cell phone users and making more than 1.2 million calls to its customers this summer. Verizon Wireless said it believes its two lawsuits -- filed against Intelligent Alternatives of San Diego and Resort Marketing Trends of Coral Springs, Fla. -- are the first ever filed by a U.S. wireless company against telemarketers. "We just consider it to be a tremendous invasion of privacy," Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Robin Nicol said Friday. "Customers look at their wireless phones as one of the last bastions of privacy that they have." Verizon, one of the country's biggest cellular phone companies with 47.4 million customers, is seeking injunctions against further telemarketing to its customers, as well as monetary damages. The Bedminster, N.J.-based company said the telemarketers violated both the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act and state laws. The calls used prerecorded messages offering a prize or reward to those who called a toll-free number, and callers then received pitches to buy vacation time-shares, according to Nicol. Nicol said that in July and August, Intelligent Alternatives made more than 1 million calls to Verizon Wireless customers, including 65,000 on July 20 alone, and Resort Marketing Trends made more than 200,000 calls over the two months, including 17,253 in one hour on Aug. 2. Verizon Wireless attorneys believe the calls were made using automatic dialing devices, Nicol said. The lawsuits were filed Wednesday. The suit against Intelligent Alternatives was filed in state Superior Court in Sacramento, Calif., while the one against Resort Marketing Trends was filed in state Superior Court in Somerville, N.J., because Verizon Wireless customers in New Jersey and California received the largest number of calls from the telemarkers. "There were people throughout the country who received these calls," Nicol said, and Verizon is continuing to collect data on such calls. At Intelligent Alternatives, spokesman C. Earl Rogers said the company "has not willfully or knowingly called a cell phone number." He said the lawsuit has been referred to his company's legal counsel and declined further comment. Officials at Resort Marketing Trends could not be reached Friday because the telemarketing company does not have a listed telephone number. According to Nicol, Verizon Wireless previously has sued spammers for contacting its customers, but has never before sued telemarketers and believes these are the first such lawsuits in the country. Copyright 1997-2005 PG Publishing Co., Inc. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, PG Publishing Company, Inc. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Janice Morse Subject: Congress Weighing Rules for Cable Franchises Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 18:08:56 -0500 By Janice Morse Enquirer staff writer Payments to cities for local programs may end. The days may be numbered for cable access channels that allow people to tune into local government meetings, church sermons, even high school football games. Congress is considering three bills that would change federal telecommunications laws. That could prompt cable operators to unplug community channels, cable-access advocates say. "This is a 'life-or-death' thing for anybody who wants local voices to still remain in media," says Tom Bishop, head of Media Bridges Cincinnati. The three bills seek to create new federal standards for cable franchises. Supporters say the reforms would help consumers by making the field more competitive and eliminating red tape in the cable industry. Critics warn that the proposals also could slash franchise fees that cable companies pay to local governments, which paid for community access channels and other services. "People have come to rely on local programming that they can't get anywhere else," said Patricia Stern, executive director of the Intercommunity Cable Regulatory Commission in Sharonville. It produces cable shows for 30 local communities. "None of the networks will cover the Loveland City Council meetings gavel-to-gavel, or the Hamilton County Commissioner meetings, or Friday night high school football games." Stern and other cable-access advocates are urging lawmakers and citizens to oppose the bills. The Alliance for Community Media, a national group representing more than 1,000 public-access TV centers, says national TV/video franchising would take away local officials' control over companies installing service lines along roads. The proposed legislation would require cable companies to repay communities for damage caused by installing cable lines. But it would eliminate or reduce "rent" for using public rights-of-way. In Cincinnati, those fees total $3.2 million a year, including a $700,000 community service fee that pays for local-access programming, officials said. The legislative battle is occurring because state and federal lawmakers are facing increasing pressure from telecom lobbyists. Two of the bills, in the Senate and House, aim to help telephone companies break into the TV business. Another Senate bill would eliminate local governments' franchise agreements with video/TV providers. That bill arose from "a desire to update the telecom laws and not have new technology stifled by a patchwork of laws across the country," said Jack Finn, spokesman for the bill's sponsor, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nevada. Finn contends the proposal would not have the devastating effects that cable-access advocates fear. But Tim Broering, executive director for the Telecommunications Board of Northern Kentucky said, "This legislation would outlaw all cable franchises across the country. This would be the federal government telling local governments how to manage their right-of-ways." Derrick Blassingame, 19, of Avondale, produces twice-monthly Cincinnati cable-access political show called "Real Talk Live." His show may not be well-known, but his audience pays close attention. Each telecast attracts 50 to 300 e-mailed comments, he said. He says the proposed laws would cut off access to people like him. Cable access channels provide more than 20,000 hours of local TV shows each week . That's more than all the programming produced by NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX and PBS combined, the Alliance says. Still, it's unclear how many people watch community access shows. But Warren County Administrator Dave Gully said citizens' comments lead him to believe that cable-access telecasts of local governments' meetings attract substantial viewership. E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com Copyright 2005, The Enquirer NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. National news daily at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Mark Halper Subject: The Mobile Snatchers Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 21:17:10 -0500 By Mark Halper Wi-fi changed the way the world surfs the web. Now it's coming to a phone near you -- and telecoms will never be the same. When operations manager Spiros Stefanou learns that a flight coming into Athens International Airport is due in early, he picks up his mobile phone and alerts baggage handlers to scramble a crew quickly. Nothing unusual about that -- except that the Cisco-supplied handset that Stefanou and some 100 other airport employees use never touches a mobile network. Instead, it wirelessly taps into the airport's internal network, which transmits the call for free anywhere in the 16-sq-km airport. "It bypasses any mobile or telecom network," says Fotis Karonis, the airport's director of information technology and telecommunications. "It's an advantage, because you don't have to call with your mobile and pay." Using this system helps save airport workers as much as $163,000 per year. It might seem like little more than the reinvention of the walkie-talkie, but Stefanou and Karonis are on the cusp of a movement that could be called The Invasion of the Mobile Snatchers. Ever since the beginning of commercial cell-phone services some two decades ago, mobile phones and mobile operators have gone together like railroad cars and railroad tracks. Handset vendors such as Nokia and Motorola provided about 2 billion phones to mobile operators like Vodafone, Orange and Verizon, which in turn put them in the hands of consumers who pay to transmit calls over the operators' mobile networks. Indeed, many operators subsidized the handset business, picking up the cost of the phones as a loss leader that would be more than made up by charging consumers for use. But after all that cooperation, something radical is happening. Handset vendors are starting to build Internet technologies into their phones that permit users like Stefanou to bypass mobile networks. The same wi-fi chips that have worked their way into laptops and turned tens of thousands of coffee shops and hotel lounges into Internet surfing zones are starting to appear in handsets. Customers using this phone simply place a call as normal, provided they have access to a wi-fi zone. This lets them do an end run around the mobile network. The lines between Internet service and phone service are blurring, and just as voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has shaken up the fixed-line phone business, it is now poised to disrupt the mobile business. At stake is a slice of the $550 billion in voice revenue that London research firm Informa Telecoms & Media says mobile operators will generate in 2010. The revelation in August that Google will begin providing free voice transmissions over computers, and Microsoft's announced acquisition last week of the VoIP start-up Teleo, show that the biggest tech players are not going to sit this game out. For some companies, that will be liberating. "Making calls from a mobile handset is no longer the preserve of just the mobile operator," says Ryan Jarvis, head of convergence products for British mobile and fixed-line provider BT. Because BT only recently entered into the mobile-service business, it has been among the first of the old-line telecoms to cautiously embrace mobile VoIP. Since June, BT has started 400 of its home broadband customers on Fusion, a Motorola-supplied phone that makes cheap Internet Protocol (IP) calls from home and switches to pricier mobile transmission outside the house. It's still a fledgling technology, because the phones use Bluetooth to make an IP connection, which limits the range in which supercheap calls can be made. But things should get more interesting in 2006, when BT and other providers add hybrid wi-fi/cellular phones. At least four of the largest mobile-handset vendors -- Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and LG -- are known to be preparing such devices, which will bring wi-fi phoning more into the mainstream. "2006 will be a big year for [mobile] wi-fi," pred icts Nokia senior vice president Ilkka Raiskinen, noting that wi-fi will become a standard feature in Nokia's multimedia and business phones next year, and that by 2006 Nokia will put it into many midrange models (it currently offers wi-fi only in an $800 phone called the 9500 Communicator). At handset maker Motorola, chief strategy officer Richard Nottenberg echoes Nokia's views, and pledges that Motorola will next year introduce a "significant" number of wi-fi phones. Indeed, Motorola has made a deal with the company that many phone firms associate with the Devil; its mix of products next year is expected to include a phone loaded with software from Luxembourg-based VoIP firm Skype, whose users can make free VoIP calls to each other. Skype has signed up 51 million "registered" users of its software, though probably less than half of those actually use it. Many Skype users call from their PCs, laptops and handheld devices via fixed or wi-fi-accessed broadband lines. "Five years from now, most calls, everywhere in the world, will be routed over the Internet, [via] affordable, cell-phone-like products that are Skype- and Internet-enabled," predicts Skype ceo Niklas Zennström. In these early days of mobile VoIP, analysts find it difficult to quantify its potential impact. But many expect a shakeup. "Can carriers, either wireless or wireline, prevent its spread? The answer is no,'' says Allen Nogee of research firm In-Stat. The company forecasts that global shipments of mobile phones with wi-fi will hit 13.5 million in 2007, leap to 52.8 million in 2008, and surge to 136 million by 2010 -- probably a conservative estimate. And it's not just voice calls that are under threat. As phones morph into data and entertainment devices, wi-fi chips will also permit phone users to browse the Web and download music without coming near a mobile network. Nokia, for instance, is building wi-fi into its N91, a slick, music-playing phone capable of storing 3,000 songs, due by the end of the year. Wi-fi and other Net connections also threaten operators' profitable text-messaging business, because users can send IP-based "instant messages" instead. Of course, mobile operators will not sit idly by. Some will point out that wi-fi phones have short battery life and poor wandering capabilities. Mobile operators are also requesting that handset makers like Nokia and Motorola build into their hybrid phones a technology that will route wi-fi-initiated calls over mobile networks. And then there's the ultimate weapon: price cuts, which could make the underlying technology irrelevant. "At the end of the day, it's a pricing game," notes Gartner analyst Martin Gutberlet in Munich. Many mobile operators, for example, now provide virtually free intra-office calls. This fall, several will offer free calls that stay on the operator's own network within a country, says Gutberlet. But eventually, most operators will be forced to join the VoIP revolution. Some already run wi-fi hot spots; in France, Orange subscribers can tap the Net with laptops and other devices, so adding VoIP phones to its portfolio could help the company hold onto at least some voice revenue. Germany's third largest operator, E-Plus, last week said that it will include Skype software as part of its flat-rate 40-per-month data-card subscription for use on laptops, starting in October. "In the long term, as part of an evolution, we'll go to VoIP-enabled over the phone," concedes Dave Williams, chief technology officer at O2. Like the planes in Athens, mobile VoIP looks set to take off, and woe to any carrier that stays on the runway. Copyright 2005 TIME Magazine. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, TIME Magazine. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: John Hines Subject: Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 20:10:09 -0500 Organization: www.jhines.org Reply-To: john@jhines.org hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > There's been a great deal of criticism of the response of > 'government', especially the Federal level, to help the flood victims. I have concerns with Bush's personal response to this disaster, which threatened thousands, as well as a third of our energy supply (from the gulf), when it is compared to his response to the single life of Terry Schavio. I wish this country had a better leader. So far only Gen. Honore has gotten any positives on leadership. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 14:30:10 -0700 From: John L. Shelton Subject: Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? > In looking over the logistics -- many thousands of people needing help > NOW! -- I wonder if our expectations of government miracles are too > high. We're used to instant gratification from the Internet and TV. > But maybe in the real world things work a little differently. I have seen very little, if any, coverage discussing the individual responsibilities in such disasters. It is sad that people are willing to blame government for their circumstances, and in particular push the Federal government for absolute responsibility. Individuals owe themselves responsibility. People can better plan for emergency. People can choose where to live, knowing the risks. People can behave responsibly during a crisis. But there's been little evidence of this. It will be very hard to convince me that 100k people in New Orleans were incapable of leaving in advance. Many poor people have cars, or have friends/families with cars. There were enough cars in NO to evacuate everyone. If one has as an emergency plan climbing into the attic during a flood, one should take an ax. If you don't have an ax, don't trap yourself in an attic. Better to float downstream than drown trapped in an attic. Here in earthquake country, many of us stock a few days' supply of food and water. It doesn't cost very much. Looting and raping are the actions of individuals. While it would be nice to have police protection against these, I hold the criminals responsible, not the police. What is in the minds of those who say that stealing and rape are bad, except in an emergency? (Perhaps this is a product of public-school education??) How did NO citizens elect such a nit-wit mayor? We saw much better behavior from NYC's mayor in 2001. Perhaps NYC has more resources, but I think they have a better track record of electing responsible, take-charge mayors. Why is the Federal government responsible? Why hasn't the city of NO actually put into place better emergency plans, and prepared physically for the inevitable. Here in Earthquake country, we've been quake retrofitting for 50 years. Geepers ... =John= john@jshelton.com ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol Subject: Re: Katrina's Real Name Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 18:21:30 -0700 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com Monty Solomon wrote: > By Ross Gelbspan > THE HURRICANE that struck Louisiana yesterday was nicknamed Katrina by > the National Weather Service. Its real name is global warming. > When the year began with a two-foot snowfall in Los Angeles, the cause > was global warming. Since when did 2005 begin in November 2004? Ross's calendar is a couple months off. Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Company website: http://JustThe.net/ Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/ E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That was a good catch, Steve! I think what he meant to say was 'when _last winter_ began' rather than 'when the year began'. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 V24 #403 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Sep 5 02:00:49 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 094F21506C; Mon, 5 Sep 2005 02:00:48 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #404 Message-Id: <20050905060048.094F21506C@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 02:00:48 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 5 Sep 2005 02:01:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 404 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Ex-Officials Say Weakened FEMA Botched Rescue (Marcus Didius Falco) Storm Exposed Disarray at the Top (Washington Post) (Marcus Didius Falco) New Orleans Begins Counting its Dead (Alan Sayre) Washington Ignored Warnings; Failed to Fund Levee Repairs (Richard Serrano) New Orleans Times-Picayune Editorial on the Event (Staff Writers) Mobile Phones: Half Want the Extras, Half Don't (Marcus Didius Falco) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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, 04 Sep 2005 23:29:23 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Ex-Officials Say Weakened FEMA Botched Rescus Please reply on list. This Email address has become such a spam trap (so many viruses), that I check it very rarely. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509030220sep03,1,5525666 .story?ctrack=1&cset=true http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509030220sep03,1,5947828 Ex-officials say weakened FEMA botched response By Frank James and Andrew Martin Washington Bureau September 3, 2005 WASHINGTON -- Government disaster officials had an action plan if a major hurricane hit New Orleans. They simply didn't execute it when Hurricane Katrina struck. Thirteen months before Katrina hit New Orleans, local, state and federal officials held a simulated hurricane drill that Ronald Castleman, then the regional director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, called "a very good exercise." More than a million residents were "evacuated" in the table-top scenario as 120 m.p.h. winds and 20 inches of rain caused widespread flooding that supposedly trapped 300,000 people in the city. "It was very much an eye-opener," said Castleman, a Republican appointee of President Bush who left FEMA in December for the private sector. "A number of things were identified that we had to deal with, not all of them were solved." Still, Castleman found it hard to square the lessons he and others learned from the exercise with the frustratingly slow response to the disaster that has unfolded in the wake of Katrina. From the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans to the Mississippi and Alabama communities along the Gulf Coast, hurricane survivors have decried the lack of water, food and security and the slowness of the federal relief efforts. "It's hard for everyone to understand why buttons weren't pushed earlier on," Castleman said of the federal response. As the first National Guard truck caravans of water and food arrived in New Orleans on Friday, former FEMA officials and other disaster experts were at a loss to explain why the federal government's lead agency for responding to major emergencies had failed to meet the urgent needs of hundreds of thousands of Americans in the most dire of circumstances in a more timely fashion. But many suspected that FEMA's apparent problems in getting life-sustaining supplies to survivors and buses to evacuate them from New Orleans -- delays even Bush called "not acceptable" -- stemmed partly from changes at the agency during the Bush years. Experts have long warned that the moves would weaken the agency's ability to effectively respond to natural disasters. Less clout, experience FEMA's chief has been demoted from a near-Cabinet-level position; political appointees with little, if any, emergency-management experience have been placed in senior FEMA positions; and the small, 2,500-person agency was dropped into the midst of the 180,000-employee Homeland Security Department, which is more oriented to combating terrorism than natural disasters. All that has led to a brain drain as experienced but demoralized employees have left the agency, former and current FEMA staff members say. The result is that an agency that got high marks during much of the 1990's for its effectiveness is being harshly criticized for seemingly mismanaging the response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The growing anger and frustration at FEMA's efforts sparked the Republican-controlled Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to announce Friday that it has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to try to uncover what went wrong. Meanwhile, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) called on Bush to immediately appoint a Cabinet-level official to direct the national response. "There was a time when FEMA understood that the correct approach to a crisis was to deploy to the affected area as many resources as possible as fast as possible," Landrieu said. "Unfortunately, that no longer seems to be their approach." John Copenhaver, a former FEMA regional director during the Clinton administration who led the response to Hurricane Floyd in 1999, said he was bewildered by the agency's slow response this time. It had been standard practice for FEMA to position supplies ahead of time, and the agency did preposition drinking water and tarps to cover damaged roofs near where they would be needed. In addition, FEMA has coordinated its plans with state and local officials and let the Defense Department know beforehand what type of military assistance would be needed. "I'm a little confused as to why it took so long to get the military presence running convoys into downtown New Orleans," Copenhaver said. And there isn't an experienced disaster-response expert at the top of the agency as there was when James Lee Witt ran it during the 1990s. Before Michael Brown, the current head, joined the agency as its legal counsel, he was with the International Arabian Horse Association. That loss of experienced personnel might explain in part why FEMA was not able to secure buses sooner for the evacuation of New Orleans, a step anticipated by the hurricane disaster simulation last year. Peter Pantuso, president of the American Bus Association, said, "I have a hard time believing there is any game plan in place when it comes to coordinating or pulling together this volume of business," referring to FEMA's effort to obtain hundreds of buses to move tens of thousands of evacuees from New Orleans. "And what happens in two or three weeks down the road when all of these people are moved again?" When FEMA became part of the Homeland Security Department, it was stripped of some functions, such as some of its ability to make preparedness grants to states, former officials said. Those functions were placed elsewhere in the larger agency. FEMA capability `marginalized'. "After Sept. 11 they got so focused on terrorism they effectively marginalized the capability of FEMA," said George Haddow, a former FEMA official during the Clinton administration. "It's no surprise that they're not capable of managing the federal government's response to this kind of disaster." Pleasant Mann, former head of the union for FEMA employees who has been with the agency since 1988, said a change made by agency higher-ups last year added a bureaucratic layer that likely delayed FEMA's response to Katrina. Before the change, a FEMA employee at the site of a disaster could request that an experienced employee he knew had the right skills be dispatched to help him. But now that requested worker is first made to travel to a location hundreds of miles from the disaster site to be "processed," placed in a pool from which he is dispatched, sometimes to a place different from where he thought he was headed. Pleasant said he knew of a case in which a worker from Washington state was made to travel first to Orlando before he could go to Louisiana, losing at least a day. What's more, that worker was told he might be sent to Alabama, not Louisiana, after all. fjames@tribune.com ajmartin@tribune.com Copyright 2005, Chicago Tribune NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, Chicago Tribune Company. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 23:07:34 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Storm Exposed Disarray at the Top (Washington Post) This story doesn't say much about telecommunications issues. However, there was a complete collapse of the telecommunications infrastructure on the Gulf coast. Landline service is gone. Cellular service was very spotty. Most towers were down, and backup power (battery and generator) at those towers that had it lasted about 14 hours. Moreover, scattered reports seem to indicate that there were problems with police and fire communications. Again, this may have been because of problems with towers or backup power: I have not, as yet, seen or heard any analysis. I have even heard there were problems with satellite phones. I suppose the problem would have been overloading of circuits on the satellites that are in range at any time. I don't know whether the problem was only with Inmarsat (which is used by news organizations because it has the bandwidth for television), or whether it also included Iridium and Globalstar. (Thuraya does not cover the western hemisphere.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301653.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301653_pf.html washingtonpost.com Storm Exposed Disarray at the Top By Susan B. Glasser and Josh White Washington Post Staff Writers Sunday, September 4, 2005; A01 The killer hurricane and flood that devastated the Gulf Coast last week exposed fatal weaknesses in a federal disaster response system retooled after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to handle just such a cataclysmic event. Despite four years and tens of billions of dollars spent preparing for the worst, the federal government was not ready when it came at daybreak on Monday, according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former senior officials and outside experts. Among the flaws they cited: Failure to take the storm seriously before it hit and trigger the government's highest level of response. Rebuffed offers of aid from the military, states and cities. An unfinished new plan meant to guide disaster response. And a slow bureaucracy that waited until late Tuesday to declare the catastrophe "an incident of national significance," the new federal term meant to set off the broadest possible relief effort. Born out of the confused and uncertain response to 9/11, the massive new Department of Homeland Security was charged with being ready the next time, whether the disaster was wrought by nature or terrorists. The department commanded huge resources as it prepared for deadly scenarios from an airborne anthrax attack to a biological attack with plague to a chlorine-tank explosion. But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday that his department had failed to find an adequate model for addressing the "ultra-catastrophe" that resulted when Hurricane Katrina's floodwater breached New Orleans's levees and drowned the city, "as if an atomic bomb had been dropped." If Hurricane Katrina represented a real-life rehearsal of sorts, the response suggested to many that the nation is not ready to handle a terrorist attack of similar dimensions. "This is what the department was supposed to be all about," said Clark Kent Ervin, DHS's former inspector general. "Instead, it obviously raises very serious, troubling questions about whether the government would be prepared if this were a terrorist attack. It's a devastating indictment of this department's performance four years after 9/11." "We've had our first test, and we've failed miserably," said former representative Timothy J. Roemer (D-Ind.), a member of the commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks. "We have spent billions of dollars in revenues to try to make our country safe, and we have not made nearly enough progress." With Katrina, he noted that "we had some time to prepare. When it's a nuclear, chemical or biological attack," there will be no warning. Indeed, the warnings about New Orleans's vulnerability to post-hurricane flooding repeatedly circulated at the upper levels of the new bureaucracy, which had absorbed the old lead agency for disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, among its two dozen fiefdoms. "Beyond terrorism, this was the one event I was most concerned with always," said Joe M. Allbaugh, the former Bush campaign manager who served as his first FEMA head. But several current and former senior officials charged that those worries were never accorded top priority -- either by FEMA's management or their superiors in DHS. Even when officials held a practice run, as they did in an exercise dubbed "Hurricane Pam" last year, they did not test for the worst-case scenario, rehearsing only what they would do if a Category 3 storm hit New Orleans, not the Category 4 power of Katrina. And after Pam, the planned follow-up study was never completed, according to a FEMA=20 official involved. "The whole department was stood up, it was started because of 9/11 and that's the bottom line," said C. Suzanne Mencer, a former senior homeland security official whose office took on some of the preparedness functions that had once been FEMA's. "We didn't have an appropriate response to 9/11, and that is why it was stood up and where the funding has been directed. The message was ... we need to be better prepared against terrorism." The roots of last week's failures will be examined for weeks and months to come, but early assessments point to a troubled Department of Homeland Security that is still in the midst of a bureaucratic transition, a "work in progress," as Mencer put it. Some current and former officials argued that as it worked to focus on counterterrorism, the department has diminished the government's ability to respond in a nuts-and-bolts way to disasters in general, and failed to focus enough on threats posed by hurricanes and other natural disasters in particular. From an independent Cabinet-level agency, FEMA has become an underfunded, isolated piece of the vast DHS, yet it is still charged with leading the government's response to disaster. "It's such an irony I hate to say it, but we have less capability today than we did on September 11," said a veteran FEMA official involved in the hurricane response. "We are so much less than what we were in 2000," added another senior FEMA official. "We've lost a lot of what we were able to do then." The DHS experiment is so far-flung that the department's leadership has focused much of its attention simply on the massive complications that resulted from creating one entity out of agencies as varied as the U.S. Coast Guard, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Transportation Security Administration. When Chertoff took office earlier this year, he made his top priority an entirely new bureaucratic reorganization less than two years after the department's creation, dubbed the "second-stage review." The review, still pending, recommends taking away a key remaining function, preparedness planning, from FEMA and giving it to "a strengthened department preparedness directorate." The procedures for what to do when the inevitable disaster hit were also subjected to a bureaucratic overhaul, still unfinished, by the department. Indeed, just last Tuesday, as New Orleans was drowning and DHS officials were still hours away from invoking the department's highest crisis status for the catastrophe, some department contractors found an important e-mail in their inboxes. Attached were two documents -- one more than 400 pages long -- that spelled out in numbing, acronym-filled detail the planned "national preparedness goal." The checklist, called a Universal Task List, appeared to cover every eventuality in a disaster, from the need to handle evacuations to speedy urban search and rescue to circulating "prompt, accurate and useful" emergency information. Even animal health and "fatality management" were= covered. But the documents were not a menu for action in the devastated Gulf Coast. They were drafts, not slated for approval and release until October, more than four years after 9/11. "Basically, this is the rules of engagement for national emergency events, whether natural or manmade. It covers every element of what you would have expected to already have been in place," said the contractor who provided the e-mail to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because he feared jeopardizing his firm's work. "This is the federal government template to engage, and this is being discussed in draft form." FEMA Lost in the Shuffle. Until 1979, the federal government had no one agency responsible for dealing with disaster. But that year, President Jimmy Carter created FEMA out of a patchwork of smaller agencies. Born at the tail end of the Cold War, FEMA had a mission largely defined as nuclear fallout shelters and other civil defense measures, though in reality it dealt with "hurricane after hurricane," as Jane Bullock, a 22-year agency veteran who was FEMA chief of staff in President Bill Clinton's administration, noted. After Hurricane Hugo hit in 1989 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992, federal response was panned, and FEMA was due for an overhaul. It got it in 1993, when Clinton brought in James Lee Witt, a veteran emergency manager and political ally, to take over, granted the agency Cabinet-level status and gave it a highly visible role it had not previously had. Its response to crises such as the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing received high marks, though some Republicans complained that it was used as a pot of money doled out to bolster Clinton's political standing. But after 9/11, FEMA lost out in the massive bureaucratic shuffle. Not only did its Cabinet status disappear, but it became one of 22 government agencies to be consolidated into Homeland Security. For a time, recalled Ervin, even its name was slated to vanish and become simply the directorate of emergency preparedness and response until then-DHS Secretary Tom Ridge relented. On Capitol Hill, lawmakers from hurricane-prone states fought a rear-guard action against FEMA's absorption. "What we were afraid of, and what is coming to pass, is that FEMA has basically been destroyed as a coherent, fast-on-its-feet, independent agency," said Rep. David E. Price (D-N.C.). In creating DHS, "people were thinking about the possibility of terrorism," said Walter Gillis Peacock, director of the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center at Texas A&M University. "They weren't thinking about the reality of a hurricane." Hurricanes were not totally absent from the calculations about the new department, according to several former Bush administration officials. Bush tapped his chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., to supervise DHS's creation; a decade earlier, Card had been personally deputized by Bush's father to go to Florida and take charge of the much-criticized response to Hurricane Andrew. "We definitely did worry about it," recalled Richard A. Falkenrath, who served as a White House homeland security adviser at the time DHS was being formed. "We knew we should do no harm to the disaster management side. The leadership of the White House knows the political significance of disasters." From the day it came into existence on March 1, 2003, the department of 180,000 employees and a nearly $40 billion annual budget was tasked by a presidential directive with developing a comprehensive new plan for disasters. The National Response Plan was supposed to supersede the confusing overlay of federal, state and local disaster plans, and to designate a "principal officer in the event of an incident of national significance." An accompanying new National Incident Management System would integrate all the cascades of information. "The problem was, who was in charge on 9/11? Who the hell knew? They kept asking and asking. You needed some clarity," Falkenrath recalled. "It was supposed to pull it all together. . . . But FEMA was grousing about that; they thought it was taking things away from them." Focus on Terrorism In creating the department, President Bush made one of its central missions "all-hazards preparedness," operating on the philosophy -- as the government has for at least the past two decades -- that most disaster preparation is the same, whether the crisis is natural or manmade. Yet DHS in reality emphasized terrorism at the expense of other threats, said several current and former senior department officials and experts who have closely monitored its creation, cutting funding for natural disaster programs and downgrading the responsibilities and capabilities of the previously well-regarded FEMA. In theory, spending resources on response to terrorism should result in improved response to any disaster, but FEMA's supporters argue that the money was being spent outside the framework of the agency actually equipped to respond. "The federal system that was perfected in the '90s has been deconstructed," said Bullock. Citing a study that found that the United States now spends $180 million a year to fend off natural hazards vs. $20 billion annually against terrorism, Bullock said, "FEMA has been marginalized. ... There is one focus and the focus is on terrorism." The White House's Homeland Security Council developed 15 scenarios for the department to concern itself about -- everything from a terrorist dirty-bomb attack to a Baghdad-style improvised explosive device. Only three were not terrorism scenarios: a pandemic flu, a major earthquake and a major hurricane. By this year, almost three of every four grant dollars appropriated to DHS for first responders went to programs explicitly focused on terrorism, the Government Accountability Office noted in a July report. Out of $3.4 billion in proposed spending for homeland security preparedness grants in the upcoming fiscal year, GAO found, $2.6 billion would be on terrorism-focused programs. At the same time, the budget for much of what remained of FEMA has been cut every year; for the current fiscal year, funding for the core FEMA functions went down to $444 million from $664 million. New leaders such as Allbaugh were critical of FEMA's natural disaster focus and lectured senior managers about the need to adjust to the post-9/11 fear of terrorism. So did his friend Michael D. Brown, a lawyer with no previous disaster management experience whom Allbaugh brought in as his deputy and who now has the top FEMA post. "Allbaugh's quote was 'You don't get it,' " recalled the senior FEMA official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "If you brought up natural disasters, you were accused of being a pre-9/11 thinker." The result, the official said, was that "FEMA was being taxed by the department, having money and slots taken. Because we didn't conform with the mission of the agency." "I'm guilty of saying, 'you don't get it,' " Allbaugh said. "Absolutely." The former FEMA chief said he had encountered bureaucratic resistance to thinking about a "monumental" disaster, such as Katrina or 9/11, rather than the more standard diet of "tornadoes and rising waters." But experts in emergency response inside and outside the government sounded warnings about the changes at FEMA. Peacock said FEMA's traditional emphasis on emergency response "all went up in smoke" after 9/11, creating a "blind spot" as a result of a "police-action, militaristic view" of homeland security. When it came to natural disasters, "It was not only forgetting about it, it was not funding it." Jack Harrald, director of the Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management at George Washington University, said FEMA's natural disaster focus was nearly liquidated. "We ended up spending a lot of money on infrastructure protection and not the resiliency of the actual infrastructure," Harrald said. "The people who came in from the military and terrorist world thought we had the natural disaster thing fixed." Rebuffed Offers of Aid. On the Friday before Katrina hit, when it was already a Category 2 hurricane rapidly gathering force in the Gulf, a veteran FEMA employee arrived at the newly activated Washington headquarters for the storm. Inside, there was surprisingly little action. "It was like nobody's turning the key to start the engine," the official recalled. Brown, the agency's director, told reporters Saturday in Louisiana that he did not have a sense of what was coming last weekend. "I was here on Saturday and Sunday, it was my belief, I'm trying to think of a better word than typical -- that minimizes, any hurricane is bad -- but we had the standard hurricane coming in here, that we could move in immediately on Monday and start doing our kind of response-recovery effort," he said. "Then the levees broke, and the levees went, you've seen it by the television coverage. That hampered our ability, made it even more complex." But other officials said they warned well before Monday about what could happen. For years, said another senior FEMA official, he had sat at meetings where plans were discussed to send evacuees to the Superdome. "We used to stare at each other and say, 'This is the plan? Are you really using the Superdome?' People used to say, what if there is water around it? They didn't have an alternative," he recalled. In the run-up to the current crisis, Allbaugh said he knew "for a fact" that officials at FEMA and other federal agencies had requested that New Orleans issue a mandatory evacuation order earlier than Sunday morning. But DHS did not ask the U.S. military to assist in pre-hurricane evacuation efforts, despite well-known estimates that a major hurricane would cause levees in New Orleans to fail. In an interview, the general charged with operations for the military's Northern Command said such a request to help with the evacuation "did not come our way." "At the point that we were all watching the evacuation and the clogged Interstate 10 going to the west on Sunday, we were watching the storm very carefully," Maj. Gen. Richard Rowe said. "At that time, it was a Category 5 storm and we knew that it would be among the worst storms to ever hit the United States. ... I knew there was an excellent chance of flooding." Others who went out of their way to offer help were turned down, such as Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who told reporters his city had offered emergency, medical and technical help as early as last Sunday to FEMA but was turned down. Only a single tank truck was requested, Daley said. Red tape kept the American Ambulance Association from sending 300 emergency vehicles from Florida to the flood zone, according to former senator John Breaux (D-La.) They were told to get permission from the General Services Administration. "GSA said they had to have FEMA ask for it," Breaux told CNN. "As a result they weren't sent." Federal authorities say there is blame enough to go around. In a news conference yesterday, Chertoff cautioned against "finger-pointing" and said no one had been equipped to handle what amounted to two simultaneous disasters -- the hurricane and subsequent levee break. Other federal and state officials pointed to Louisiana's failure to measure up to national disaster response standards, noting that the federal plan advises state and local emergency managers not to expect federal aid for 72 to 96 hours, and base their own preparedness efforts on the need to be self-sufficient for at least that period. "Fundamentally the first breakdown occurred at the local level," said one state official who works with FEMA. "Did the city have the situational awareness of what was going on within its borders? The answer was no." But many outraged politicians in both parties have concluded that the federal government failed to meet the commitments it made after Sept. 11, 2001. Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, said DHS had failed. "We've been told time and time again that we are prepared for any emergency that comes, that we're ready," he said. "We're obviously not." Thompson said, for example, that oil pipelines in the Southeast have been identified by DHS as critical national infrastructure to be protected against terrorist attack. In the wake of the hurricane, they have been= crippled by floods." We have to review all our systems," Thompson said. "If a byproduct of what happened in New Orleans is we have this gas crisis all over the country, it doesn't matter whether a terrorist hits it or a hurricane hits it. You have the same effect." Staff writers Peter Baker, Bradley Graham, Spencer S. Hsu, Dafna Linzer and Michael Powell and researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report. Copyright 2005 The Washington Post Company NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, Washington Post Company. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Alan Sayre Subject: New Orleans Begins Counting its Dead Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 16:32:34 -0500 By ALAN SAYRE, Associated Press Writer New Orleans turned much of its attention Sunday to gathering up and counting the dead across a ghastly landscape awash in perhaps thousands of corpses. "It is going to be about as ugly of a scene as I think you can imagine," the nation's homeland security chief warned. Air and boat crews also searched flooded neighborhoods for survivors, and federal officials urged those still left in New Orleans to leave for their own safety. To expedite the rescues, the Coast Guard requested through the media that anyone stranded hang out brightly colored or white linens or something else to draw attention. But with the electricity out though much of the city, it was not known if the message was being received. With large-scale evacuations completed at the Superdome and Convention Center, the death toll was not known. But bodies were everywhere: floating in canals, slumped in wheelchairs, abandoned on highways and medians and hidden in attics. "I think it's evident it's in the thousands," Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said Sunday on CNN, echoing predictions by city and state officials last week. The U.S. Public Health Service said one morgue alone, at a St. Gabriel prison, expected 1,000 to 2,000 bodies. In the first official count in the New Orleans area, Louisiana emergency medical director Louis Cataldie said authorities had verified 59 deaths - 10 of them at the Superdome. "We need to prepare the country for what's coming," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said on "Fox News Sunday." "We are going to uncover people who died, maybe hiding in houses, got caught by the flood. ... It is going to be about as ugly of a scene as I think you can imagine." Chertoff said rescuers have encountered a number of people who said they did not want to evacuate. "That is not a reasonable alternative," he said. "We are not going to be able to have people sitting in houses in the city of New Orleans for weeks and months while we de-water and clean this city. ... The flooded places, when they're de-watered, are not going to be sanitary." In addition to civilian deaths, New Orleans' police department has had to deal with suicides in its ranks. Two officers took their lives, including the department spokesman, Paul Accardo, who died Saturday, according to W.J. Riley, police superintendent. Both shot themselves in the head, Riley said. "I've got some firefighters and police officers that have been pretty much traumatized," Mayor Ray Nagin said. "And we've already had a couple of suicides, so I am cycling them out as we speak. ... They need physical and psychological evaluations." The strain was apparent in other ways. Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, dropped his head and cried on NBC's "Meet the Press." "The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home, and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?" And he said, "And yeah, Momma, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday" - and she drowned Friday night. She drowned on Friday night," Broussard said. "Nobody's coming to get her, nobody's coming to get her. The secretary's promise, everybody's promise. They've had press conferences -- I'm sick of the press conferences. For God's sakes, shut up and send us somebody." Hundreds of thousands of people already have been evacuated, seeking safety in Texas, Tennessee and other states. The first group of refugees who will take shelter in Arizona arrived Sunday in Phoenix. With more than 230,000 already in Texas, Gov. Rick Perry ordered emergency officials to begin preparations to airlift some of them to other states that have offered help. What will happen to the refugees in the long term was not known. Back in New Orleans, walk-up stragglers at the Convention Center were checked by Navy medics before they were evacuated. Lt. Andy Steczo said he treated people for bullet wounds, knife wounds, infections, dehydration and chronic problems such as diabetes. "We're cleaning them up the best we can and then shipping them out," Steczo said. One person he treated was 56-year-old Pedro Martinez, who had a gash on his ankle and cuts on his knuckle and forearm. Martinez said he was injured while helping people onto rescue boats. "I don't have any medication and it hurts. I'm glad to get out of here," he said. In a devastated section on the edge of the French Quarter, people went into a store, whose windows were already shattered, and took out bottles of soda and juice. A corpse of an elderly man lay wrapped in a child's bedsheet decorated with the cartoon characters Batman, Robin and the Riddler. The body was in a wooden cart on Rampart Street, one shoe on, one shoe off. Rene Gibson, 42, driving a truck while hunting for water and ice, said people are not going to leave willingly. "People been all their life. They don't know nothing else," he said. Amid the tragedy, about two dozen people gathered in the French Quarter for the Decadence Parade, an annual Labor Day celebration, normally attended by thousands of GLBT people nationwide. Matt Menold, 23, a street musician wearing a sombrero and a guitar slung over his back, said: "It's New Orleans, man. We're going to celebrate." In New Orleans' Garden District, a woman's body lay at the corner of Jackson Avenue and Magazine Street -- a business area with antique shops on the edge of blighted housing. The body had been there since at least Wednesday. As days passed, people covered the corpse with blankets or plastic. By Sunday, a short wall of bricks had been built around the body, holding down a plastic tarpaulin. On it, someone had spray-painted a cross and the words, "Here lies Vera. God help us." Associated Press reporters Dan Sewell and Robert Tanner contributed to this report. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. To read other AP reports each day, go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Serrano & Gaouette Subject: Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 16:35:08 -0500 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-levee4sep04,0,6360838,full.story By Richard A. Serrano and Nicole Gaouette LA Times Writers KATRINA'S AFTERMATH Despite Warnings, Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects. To cut spending, officials gambled that the worst-case scenario would not come to be. September 4, 2005 WASHINGTON - For years, Washington had been warned that doom lurked just beyond the levees. And for years, the White House and Congress had dickered over how much money to put into shoring up century-old dikes and carrying out newer flood control projects to protect the city of New Orleans. As recently as three months ago, the alarms were sounding -- and being brushed aside. In late May, the New Orleans district of the Army Corps of Engineers formally notified Washington that hurricane storm surges could knock out two of the big pumping stations that must operate night and day even under normal conditions to keep the city dry. Also, the Corps said, several levees had settled and would soon need to be raised. And it reminded Washington that an ambitious flood-control study proposed four years before remained just that -- a written proposal never put into action for lack of funding. What a powerful hurricane could do to New Orleans and the area's critical transportation, energy and petrochemical facilities had been well understood. So now, nearly a week into the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, hard questions are being raised about Washington officials who crossed their fingers and counted on luck once too often. The reasons the city's defenses were not strengthened enough to handle such a storm are deeply rooted in the politics and bureaucracy of Washington. With the advantage of hindsight, the miscues seem even broader. Construction proposals were often underfunded or not completed. Washing- ton officials could never agree on how much money would be needed to protect New Orleans. And there hung in the air a false sense of security that a storm like Katrina was a long shot nyway. As a result, when the immediate crisis eases and inquiries into what went wrong begin, there is likely to be responsibility and blame enough for almost every institution in Washington, including the White House, Congress, the Army Corps of Engineers and a host of other federal agencies. For example, Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, the Corps commander, conceded Friday that the government had known the New Orleans levees could never withstand a hurricane higher than a Category 3. Corps officials shuddered, he said, when they realized that Katrina was barreling down on the Gulf Coast with the vastly greater destructive force of a Category 5 -- the strongest type of hurricane. Washington, he said, had rolled the dice. Rather than come up with the extra millions of dollars needed to make the city safer, officials believed that such a devastating storm was a small probability and that, with the level of protection that had been funded, "99.5% of the time this would work." Unfortunately, Strock said, "we did not address the 0.5%." Corps officials said the floodwaters breached at two spots: the 17th Street Canal Levee and the London Avenue Canal Levee. Connie Gillette, a Corps spokeswoman, said Saturday there never had been any plans or funds allocated to shore up those spots -- another sign the government expected them to hold. Nevertheless, the Corps hardly was alone in failing to address what it meant to have a major metropolitan area situated mostly below sea level, sitting squarely in the middle of the Gulf Coast's Hurricane Alley. Many federal, state and local flood improvement officials kept asking for more dollars for more ambitious protection projects. But the White House kept scaling down those requests. And each time, although congressional leaders were more generous with funding than the White House, the House and Senate never got anywhere near to approving the amounts that experts had said was needed. What happened this year was typical: Local levee and flood prevention officials, along with Sen. Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.), asked for $78 million in project funds. President Bush offered them less than half that -- $30 million. Congress ended up authorizing $36.5 million. Since Bush took office in 2001, local experts and Landrieu have asked for just short of $500 million. Altogether, Bush in his yearly budgets asked for $166 million, and Congress approved about $250 million. These budget decisions reflect a reality in Washington: to act with an eye toward short-term political rewards instead of making long-term investments to deal with problems. Vincent Gawronski, an assistant professor at Birmingham Southern College in Alabama who studies the political impact of natural disasters, said the lost chances to shore up the levees were a classic example of government leaders who, although meaning well, clashed over priorities. "Elected politicians are in office for a limited amount of time and with a limited amount of money, and they don't really have a long-term vision for spending it," he said. "So you spend your pot of money where you feel you're going to get the most political support so you can get reelected. It's very difficult to think long-term. If you invest in these levees, is that going to show an immediate return or does it take away from anything else?" Gawronski said flood control projects do not have the appeal of other endeavors, such as cancer research and police protection. At the same time, Congress habitually approves billions of dollars for highways and bridges and other infrastructure that politically benefits individual congressmen. Gawronski called it inexcusable for the United States to have been "gambling so long" that the old levee system in New Orleans would hold. "Disasters are often low probability, high consequence events, so there's a gamble there," he said. "It's not going to happen on my watch, there's the potential it might, but I'll bet it won't." In the case of New Orleans and flood control, another factor was at work: the reputation of the Corps of Engineers. Over the years, many in Washington had come to regard the Corps as an out-of-control agency that championed huge projects and sometimes exaggerated need and benefits. The Corps began as a tiny regiment during the Revolutionary War era; it now employs about 35,000 people to build dams, deepen harbors, dig ditches and erect seawalls, among other things. But critics say some projects are make-work boondoggles. In 2000, Corps leaders were found to have manipulated an economic study to justify a Mississippi River project that would have cost billions. The agency also launched a secret growth initiative to boost its budget by 50%. And the Pentagon found in 2000 that the Corps' cost-benefit analyses were systematically skewed to warrant large-scale construction projects. As a result, said a senior staffer with the Senate Appropriations Committee who spoke on condition of anonymity, requests by the Corps for flood control money were especially vulnerable to budget cutting. "A lot of people just look at it as pork," said the staffer. The Bush administration's former budget director, Mitch Daniels, was known as an aggressive advocate for Corps reform who cast a skeptical eye on its budget requests. "The Army Corps of Engineers has a very large budget, and it has grown a lot over recent years," Daniels, now the governor of Indiana, said. "To the extent there's been any limitation of [the Corps'] budget, it has to do with previous tendencies to build marinas and things that don't have much to do with preparing us for disaster." The Bush White House maintains it never ignored the security needs of the Gulf Coast. "Flood control has been a priority of this administration from Day One," said White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. He said hundreds of millions of dollars were spent in the New Orleans area in recent years for flood prevention, and he said the failure of the levees was not a matter of money so much as a problem with drawing the right plans for the dike work and other improvements. "It's been more of a design issue with the levees," he said. Other administration officials said there were not enough construction companies and equipment to handle all the work that had been proposed. John Paul Woodley Jr., assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, who has responsibility for the Corps of Engineers, said: "It's true, we cannot accomplish all of our projects at full funding all the time. I think that's true of any agency, particularly any public works agency, but we had a lot of work underway in New Orleans, and I was personally supportive of it. "As a native of Louisiana," Woodley said, "I understand the problems associated with flooding in New Orleans. I don't think there's any lack of support for flood control projects in New Orleans, particularly within the context of other projects around the country." On Capitol Hill in recent years, several Democrats warned that more money should be marked for the protection of New Orleans. For instance, in September 2004, Landrieu said she was tired of hearing there was no money to do more work on levees. "We're told, can't do it this year. Don't have enough money. It's not a high enough priority," she said in a Senate speech. "Well, I know when it's going to get to be a high enough priority." She then told of a New Orleans emergency worker who had collected several thousand body bags in the event of a major flood. "Let's hope that never happens," she said. But in May 2004, then Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he had visited the levees as a guest of Landrieu and believed them adequate. He praised the ancient water pumps for keeping the waters from cascading into the city, proclaiming them "these old, old pumps that hadn't been changed since before the turn of the century, that still keep New Orleans dry." "It was as clean as a restaurant," he added. "These big old pumps work." Today, eight of those 22 pumps are underwater and inoperable. Over the years, several projects either were short-changed or never got started. The Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project was authorized by Congress after a rainstorm killed six people in May 1995. It was to be finished in 10 years, but funding reductions prevented its completion before Katrina struck. The Army Corps of Engineers did spend $430 million to renovate pumping stations and shore up the levees. But experts said the project fell behind schedule after funding was reduced in 2003 and 2004. The Lake Pontchartrain Project was a $750-million Corps operation for new levees and beefed-up pumping stations. Because of funding cuts, it was only 80% complete when the hurricane hit. The project that never was started was an examination of storm surges from large hurricanes. Congress approved the study but did not allocate the funds for it. In May, Al Naomi, the Corps' senior project manager for the New Orleans district, reminded political and business leaders and emergency management officials that a Category 4 or 5 hurricane was always possible. After that meeting, Walter Brooks, the regional planning commission director, came away shaking his head. "We've learned that we're not as safe as we thought we were," he told the local newspaper, the Times-Picayune. Last week, Corps commander Strock defended past work, saying, it was his "personal and professional assessment" that work in New Orleans was never underfunded. What he meant by that, he explained, was that no one expected such a large disaster before all the renovations and other improvements could be completed. "That was as good as it was going to get," he said. " We knew that it would protect from a Category 3 hurricane. In fact, it has been through a number of Category 3 hurricanes." But, he said, Katrina's intensity "simply exceeded the design capacity of the levee." Asked whether in hindsight he wished more had been done, Strock said: "I really don't express surprise in my business. We don't sit around and say 'Gee whiz.' " Times staff writer Mary Curtius contributed to this report. Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: New Orleans Times-Picayune Editorial Subject: An Open Letter to President Bush Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 16:40:12 -0500 Orleans Breaking News Sunday, September 04, 2005 OUR OPINIONS: An open letter to the President Dear Mr. President: We heard you loud and clear Friday when you visited our devastated city and the Gulf Coast and said, "What is not working, we're going to make it right." Please forgive us if we wait to see proof of your promise before believing you. But we have good reason for our skepticism. Bienville built New Orleans where he built it for one main reason: It' s accessible. The city between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain was easy to reach in 1718. How much easier it is to access in 2005 now that there are interstates and bridges, airports and helipads, cruise ships, barges, buses and diesel-powered trucks. Despite the city's multiple points of entry, our nation's bureaucrats spent days after last week's hurricane wringing their hands, lamenting the fact that they could neither rescue the city's stranded victims nor bring them food, water and medical supplies. Meanwhile there were journalists, including some who work for The Times-Picayune, going in and out of the city via the Crescent City Connection. On Thursday morning, that crew saw a caravan of 13 Wal-Mart tractor trailers headed into town to bring food, water and supplies to a dying city. Television reporters were doing live reports from downtown New Orleans streets. Harry Connick Jr. brought in some aid Thursday, and his efforts were the focus of a "Today" show story Friday morning. Yet, the people trained to protect our nation, the people whose job it is to quickly bring in aid were absent. Those who should have been deploying troops were singing a sad song about how our city was impossible to reach. We're angry, Mr. President, and we'll be angry long after our beloved city and surrounding parishes have been pumped dry. Our people deserved rescuing. Many who could have been were not. That's to the government's sham e. Mayor Ray Nagin did the right thing Sunday when he allowed those with no other alternative to seek shelter from the storm inside the Louisiana Superdome. We still don't know what the death toll is, but one thing is certain: Had the Superdome not been opened, the city's death toll would have been higher. The toll may even have been exponentially higher. It was clear to us by late morning Monday that many people inside the Superdome would not be returning home. It should have been clear to our government, Mr. President. So why weren't they evacuated out of the city immediately? We learned seven years ago, when Hurricane Georges threatened, that the Dome isn't suitable as a long-term shelter. So what did state and national officials think would happen to tens of thousands of people trapped inside with no air conditioning, overflowing toilets and dwindling amounts of food, water and other essentials? State Rep. Karen Carter was right Friday when she said the city didn't have but two urgent needs: "Buses! And gas!" Every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be fired, Director Michael Brown especially. In a nationally televised interview Thursday night, he said his agency hadn't known until that day that thousands of storm victims were stranded at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. He gave another nationally televised interview the next morning and said, "We've provided food to the people at the Convention Center so that they've gotten at least one, if not two meals, every single day." Lies don't get more bald-faced than that, GeeDubya. Yet, when you met with Mr. Brown Friday morning, you told him, "You're doing a heck of a job." That's unbelievable. There were thousands of people at the Convention Center because the riverfront is high ground. The fact that so many people had reached there on foot is proof that rescue vehicles could have gotten there, too. We, who are from New Orleans, are no less American than those who live on the Great Plains or along the Atlantic Seaboard. We're no less important than those from the Pacific Northwest or Appalachia. Our people deserved to be rescued. No expense should have been spared. No excuses should have been voiced. Especially not one as preposterous as the claim that New Orleans couldn't be reached. Mr. President, we sincerely hope you fulfill your promise to make our beloved communities work right once again. When you do, we will be the first to applaud. Copyright 2003 NOLA.com. All Rights Reserved. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 23:36:18 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Mobile Phones: Half Want the Extras; Half Don't Please reply on list. I'm not checking this email very often. http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/mobile-phones-half-want-the-extras-half-= dont/2005/08/31/1125302629053.html Welcome to Sydney Morning Herald Online. Mobile phones: half want the extras, half don't By Julian Lee Marketing Reporter September 1, 2005 Women buy more ring tones for their mobile phones than men, are more likely to get Samsung handsets and regularly dial up for astrology. Men use their mobiles for news, sport, comedy and porn. As for married couples, the latest movie reviews are the most popular landing spot. These are among the findings of a study by the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association of Australia's 18 million mobile phone users. "This comprehensively tells us what people are doing with their phones and it gives us something to go on in determining why," said Oliver Weidlich, an Ideal Interfaces "usability" expert and co-author of the Report on the Australian Mobile Content Customer. One-third of respondents said they liked the services on mobile phones and found them useful and those who were already using 3G networks bought "significantly" more than users of other networks. One-third had bought a ring tone in the last year, one-quarter an accessory for their phone. Those who had bought a wallpaper, logo or screensaver for their handset had done so an average of seven times a year. But perhaps the most sobering finding was the number of people who did not want any content on their phone. Fifty-one per cent of respondents said: "I don't care; I just want to use it for phone calls." Almost everyone used SMS; women more than men. Just one-fifth used picture messaging. A mere 6 per cent used their phones for email. When it came to services they would like to see in future, nearly half said= maps and more ring tones, and 44 per cent wanted timetables for trains and buses. Two-thirds wanted email and more than half instant messaging services. But Mr Weidlich said marketers needed to realise mobile phone services had not always lived up to expectations. Claudia Sagripanti, convenor of the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association's mobile content group, said: "This survey shows that people have come back and purchased repeatedly so the experience has got better since things like WAP [wireless application protocol], which was a few years ago, and the industry is very careful about overpromising." The study surveyed 2486 people, 80 per cent of them under 35, in April. - Optus has 33% of subscribers, Telstra 31%, Vodafone 17% - Of owners, 60% have Nokia phones, 10% Sony Ericsson, 10% Motorola, 8% Samsung, 6% LG - News services draw 17% of users, sport 13%, weather 13%, astrology 12% Copyright 2005. The Sydney Morning Herald. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, Sydney Morning Herald. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #404 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Sep 5 17:19:48 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id E36EF14FFB; Mon, 5 Sep 2005 17:19:47 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #405 Message-Id: <20050905211947.E36EF14FFB@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 17:19:47 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 5 Sep 2005 17:19:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 405 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Katrina's Real Name - The Boston Globe (Marcus Didius Falco) Australian Court Rules Against Kazaa (Michael Perry) Cellphones and Blimps? (Thomas A. Horsley) For Victims, News About Home Can Come From Strangers Online (Monty Solomon) A Major Backfire in Japan Deflates Vodafone's One-Size-Fits-All (M Solomon) How to Make Phone Calls Without a Telephone (Monty Solomon) Why the Internet Isn't the Death of the Post Office (Monty Solomon) New Technology May Increase Identity Theft - Scientist (Monty Solomon) Report Says US Data Secrecy Expanding and Getting Costlier (Monty Solomon) Not Even Web Retailers Will Be Exempt From the Aftereffects (Monty Solomon) Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? (Joseph) Re: Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects (Tony P.) Re: Internet is Bulletin Board For Katrina Victims (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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, 04 Sep 2005 23:49:37 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Katrina's Real Name - The Boston Globe Replies on-list only, please http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/08/30/katrinas_real_name/ By Ross Gelbspan | August 30, 2005 THE HURRICANE that struck Louisiana yesterday was nicknamed Katrina by the National Weather Service. Its real name is global warming. When the year began with a two-foot snowfall in Los Angeles, the cause was global warming. When 124-mile-an-hour winds shut down nuclear plants in Scandinavia and cut power to hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland and the United Kingdom, the driver was global warming. When a severe drought in the Midwest dropped water levels in the Missouri River to their lowest on record earlier this summer, the reason was global warming. In July, when the worst drought on record triggered wildfires in Spain and Portugal and left water levels in France at their lowest in 30 years, the explanation was global warming. When a lethal heat wave in Arizona kept temperatures above 110 degrees and killed more than 20 people in one week, the culprit was global warming. And when the Indian city of Bombay (Mumbai) received 37 inches of rain in one day -- killing 1,000 people and disrupting the lives of 20 million others -- the villain was global warming. As the atmosphere warms, it generates longer droughts, more-intense downpours, more-frequent heat waves, and more-severe storms. Although Katrina began as a relatively small hurricane that glanced off south Florida, it was supercharged with extraordinary intensity by the relatively blistering sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico. The consequences are as heartbreaking as they are terrifying. Unfortunately, very few people in America know the real name of Hurricane Katrina because the coal and oil industries have spent millions of dollars to keep the public in doubt about the issue. The reason is simple: To allow the climate to stabilize requires humanity to cut its use of coal and oil by 70 percent. That, of course, threatens the survival of one of the largest commercial enterprises in history. In 1995, public utility hearings in Minnesota found that the coal industry had paid more than $1 million to four scientists who were public dissenters on global warming. And ExxonMobil has spent more than $13 million since 1998 on an anti-global warming public relations and lobbying campaign. In 2000, big oil and big coal scored their biggest electoral victory yet when President George W. Bush was elected president -- and subsequently took suggestions from the industry for his climate and energy policies. As the pace of climate change accelerates, many researchers fear we have already entered a period of irreversible runaway climate change. Against this background, the ignorance of the American public about global warming stands out as an indictment of the US media. When the US press has bothered to cover the subject of global warming, it has focused almost exclusively on its political and diplomatic aspects and not on what the warming is doing to our agriculture, water supplies, plant and animal life, public health, and weather. For years, the fossil fuel industry has lobbied the media to accord the same weight to a handful of global warming skeptics that it accords the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- more than 2,000 scientists from 100 countries reporting to the United Nations. Today, with the science having become even more robust -- and the impacts as visible as the megastorm that covered much of the Gulf of Mexico -- the press bears a share of the guilt for our self-induced destruction with the oil and coal industries. As a Bostonian, I am afraid that the coming winter will -- like last winter -- be unusually short and devastatingly severe. At the beginning of 2005, a deadly ice storm knocked out power to thousands of people in New England and dropped a record-setting 42.2 inches of snow on Boston. The conventional name of the month was January. Its real name is global warming. Ross Gelbspan is author of 'The Heat Is On' and 'Boiling Point.' Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. To read NY Times on line each day, no registration or login requirements, go to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html ------------------------------ From: Michael Perry Subject: Australian Court Rules Against Kazaa Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 10:24:19 -0500 By Michael Perry An Australian court ruled on Monday that users of Kazaa, a popular internet music file-swapping system, breached music copyright and ordered its owners to modify the software to protect copyright. Federal Court Judge Murray Wilcox ruled that Kazaa's owners, Sharman Networks, had not breached copyright but had encouraged millions of Kazaa users worldwide to do so. "The respondents have long known that the Kazaa system is widely used for the sharing of copyright files," said Wilcox in his ruling in a Sydney court. Australia's major record companies sued Kazaa's Australian owners and developers, Sharman Networks, claiming Kazaa's breach of copyright had cost them millions of dollars in lost sales. "The court has ruled the current Kazaa system illegal," Michael Speck, a spokesman for the Australian music industry, told reporters outside the court. "It is a great day for artists, it is a great day for anyone who wants to make a living from music," Speck said. The record companies will now seek damages for hundreds of millions of pirated music downloads, saying Sharman Networks had boasted that Kazaa downloaded 270 million tracks a month. The music companies include the local arms of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group, Warner, Universal Music and several Australian firms. Sharman Networks defended the use of the internet to download music tracks, telling the court that file sharing reflected a revolution in the way music was distributed and sold. It said it had copyright protection in place, such as its licensing agreement, but added it could not control the actions of an estimated 100 million worldwide users. Judge Wilcox said Kazaa failed to use available technology, such as key word filters, to prevent copyright infringements because it would have been against its financial interest. He said that Kazaa's "Join the Revolution" Web site campaign to attract users did not directly advocate sharing copyright files, but criticised record companies for opposing file sharing. "It seems that Kazaa users are predominately young people, the effect of this web page would be to encourage visitors to think it 'cool' to defy the record companies by ignoring constraints," Wilcox said. Wilcox ordered Sharman Networks modify the Kazaa software with filters to protect copyright. "If Kazaa cleans up its act and does what the court has ordered it to do, stop its illegal business, then they have an opportunity to be part of the music industry," said music industry spokesman Speck. Recorded music sales have slipped in recent years, with global sales down 7.6 per cent in 2003 to $32 billion, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. The federation blames rampant piracy, poor economic conditions and competition from video games and DVDs for the slump. Supporters of file swapping argue that it can encourage people to buy music by exposing them to a range of styles. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ Subject: Cellphones and Blimps? From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 15:26:54 GMT Curious about something in the wake of Katrina: If we had been prepared to do so, could cellphone communications have been restored (at least periodically) to the area by flying any kind of cell relay equipment over the area in blimps? I can imagine it would take special equipment, since cell towers are usually attached to land lines and a blimp (obviously) won't have a landline connection, but I do wonder if something like that could be feasible for getting at least limited communications re-established quickly? >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics <<==+ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 11:49:03 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: For Victims, News About Home Can Come From Strangers Online By KATIE HAFNER SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 4 - On Friday afternoon, Leonard Sprague, a general contractor in Gainesville, Fla., saw the electronic plea. "I hope someone can help," someone using the name ZuluOne wrote to an online bulletin board. "I am trying to get a current overlay for the area around 2203 Curcor Court in Gulfport, Miss." Mr. Sprague knew that "current overlay" meant a bird's-eye view. And an altruistic impulse combined with an urge to play with a new technology propelled him into action. Using his PC, he superimposed a freshly available posthurricane aerial photograph over a prehurricane image of the same neighborhood. After 15 minutes, he had an answer. "Actually, it looks like your house looks pretty good," Mr. Sprague told ZuluOne by e-mail. "Unfortunately, it doesn't look so good for some of your neighbors. Best of luck to you and your family." In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of displaced residents and their relatives -- along with people like Mr. Sprague -- have turned to the Internet for information about a home feared damaged or destroyed. Many are using Google Earth, a program available at the Google Web site that lets users zoom in on any address for an aerial view drawn from a database of satellite photos. By the end of last week, a grass-roots effort had identified scores of posthurricane images, determined the geographical coordinates and visual landmarks to enable their integration into the Google Earth program, and posted them to a Google Earth bulletin board -- the place ZuluOne turned for help. Most of the images originated with the Remote Sensing Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has been posting them to its Web site http://noaa.gov since Wednesday. Taking inspiration from the online volunteers, Google, NASA and Carnegie Mellon University had by Saturday night made the effort more formal, incorporating nearly 4,000 posthurricane images into the Google Earth database http://earth.google.com for public use. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/technology/05google.html?ex=1283572800&en=e092019eb18b6b94&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 12:06:06 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Major Backfire in Japan Deflates Vodafone's One-Size-Fits-All By MARTIN FACKLER and KEN BELSON September 5, 2005 TOKYO - Yoko Yakushiji's biggest complaint with her Vodafone cellphone was not just the lack of functions, the expensive bills or the poor signal. It was not even the delays in receiving text messages. What annoyed her most was feeling like a social outcast, cut off from the instantaneous electronic world of Japan's tech-savvy youth. The 21-year-old university student says she often missed friends' calls and messages with invitations to meals, parties and even class assignments. In April, she switched providers -- something she had resisted because she had to change her phone number and phone-based e-mail address. "My friends used to treat me differently. They'd say things like, 'Oh, you can't reach Yoko. She's got Vodafone,' " said Ms. Yakushiji, a junior in international finance at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo. "I just couldn't take it anymore." Ms. Yakushiji was not the only one, as Vodafone, the world's largest cellphone carrier, is finding out. Service problems, a botched rollout of its third-generation phone network and a skimpy lineup of new handsets have driven away Japanese customers in droves. The exodus has turned into an embarrassing and costly setback for Vodafone -- and one it is now struggling to overcome. Vodafone, which is based in London and also owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless in the United States, now must win back customers if it is to revive what was once one of its most profitable units and a cash cow for its global operations. Though the performance of its subsidiary in Japan has shown some signs of improving, it has fallen far behind its two larger rivals here, NTT DoCoMo and KDDI. Vodafone's woes in Japan are a lesson in how global corporations can stumble if they try to push a sales agenda across many national markets without heeding local quirks. The company admits that its biggest misstep was a decision to focus its lineup in Japan on what it calls "converged handsets" -- mobile phones that Vodafone released in December in 13 countries simultaneously. By offering the same phones to many of its 165 million worldwide subscribers, Vodafone hoped to drive down handset prices. But the one-size-fits-all approach backfired in Japan. Features that were acceptable in Europe or the United States appeared primitive and clunky in Japan. Consumers here are used to getting new technologies like high-resolution color screens, two-megapixel cameras and full Internet access a year or two before the rest of the world. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05vodaphone.html?ex=1283572800&en=b42572bbb0631922&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 12:26:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: How to Make Phone Calls Without a Telephone By THOMAS J. FITZGERALD Internet telephone service is well on its way into the mainstream. Companies like Vonage, using a technology called voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, offer cheap long-distance rates and features not found with conventional phone service. Cable giants, too, are taking Internet phones to the masses. Now a subset of VoIP services, called PC-to-phone service, is gaining momentum. With these services, users can make calls to and receive calls from regular phones on their PC's as long they have a broadband connection, VoIP software downloaded from the Web and a headset. One advantage of such services is the ability to make calls through an Internet-connected laptop when cellular service is unreliable. Many people also prefer the convenience of talking while working on a PC; the services can operate while you are doing other tasks on the computer. Another advantage is price. PC-to-phone VoIP rates are less expensive than conventional phone calls and in many cases cheaper than phone-to-phone VoIP services, which route calls through broadband modems to regular phones. Early versions of these services have been around since the late 1990's, but the rise of Skype, a mostly free VoIP service using file-sharing technology, has increased competition in the field. Yahoo, America Online and Microsoft have each announced plans to add new phone services to future versions of their instant messaging programs. And last week, Google introduced Google Talk, a free service that enables users to talk through their computers and could be a first step toward a PC-to-phone service. PC-to-phone services available today from companies like Skype, SIPphone, i2Telecom and Dialpad Communications offer many features like free PC-to-PC calling, conference calls, voice mail, choice of phone numbers, call forwarding and reduced long-distance rates, especially for international calls. But as with phone-to-phone VoIP services, call quality is not always perfect. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/technology/circuits/01basics.html?ex=1283227200&en=d515c0052b9b19fb&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 12:39:04 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Why the Internet Isn't the Death of the Post Office By JAMES FALLOWS MILLIONS of people now rent their movies the Netflix way. They fill out a wish list from the 50,000 titles on the company's Web site and receive the first few DVD's in the mail; when they mail each one back, the next one on the list is sent. The Netflix model has been exhaustively analyzed for its disruptive, new-economy implications. What will it mean for video stores like Blockbuster, which has, in fact, started a similar service? What will it mean for movie studios and theaters? What does it show about "long " businesses -- ones that amalgamate many niche markets, like those for Dutch movies or classic musicals, into a single large audience? But one other major implication has barely been mentioned: what this and similar Internet-based businesses mean for that stalwart of the old economy, the United States Postal Service. Every day, some two million Netflix envelopes come and go as first-class mail. They are joined by millions of other shipments from online pharmacies, eBay vendors, Amazon.com and other businesses that did not exist before the Internet. The eclipse of "snail mail" in the age of instant electronic communication has been predicted at least as often as the coming of the paperless office. But the consumption of paper keeps rising. (It has roughly doubled since 1980, with less use of newsprint and much more of ordinary office paper.) And so, with some nuances and internal changes, does the flow of material carried by mail. On average, an American household receives twice as many pieces of mail a day as it did in the 1970's. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/technology/04techno.html?ex=1283486400&en=03a3c97e10d5235b&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 00:18:44 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New Technology May Increase Identity Theft - Scientist By Patricia Reaney | September 4, 2005 DUBLIN (Reuters) - New technology could increase rather than solve the problem of identity theft and fraud, a British criminologist warned on Monday. Identity cards and chip and pin technology for credit cards will force fraudsters to be more creative and are unlikely to alleviate the problem. Dr Emily Finch, of the University of East Anglia in England, said dependence on technology was leading to a breakdown in individual vigilance, which experts believe is one of the best ways to prevent fraud and identity theft. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/04/new_technology_may_increase_identity_theft_scientist/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 00:19:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Report Says US Data Secrecy Expanding and Getting Costlier Expenses rose to $7.2b in 2004 By Michael J. Sniffen, Associated Press | September 4, 2005 WASHINGTON -- The government is withholding more data than ever from the public and expanding ways of shrouding information. Last year, federal agencies spent a record $148 creating and storing new secrets for each $1 spent declassifying old secrets, a coalition of watchdog groups reported yesterday. That's a $28 jump from 2003, when $120 was spent to keep secrets for every $1 spent revealing them. In the late 1990s, the ratio was $15-$17 a year to $1, according to the secrecy report card by OpenTheGovernment.org. Overall, the government spent $7.2 billion in 2004 stamping 15.6 million documents 'top secret,' 'secret,' or 'confidential.' That almost doubled the 8.6 million new documents classified as recently as 2001. Last year, the number of pages declassified declined for the fourth straight year to 28.4 million. In 2001, 100 million pages were declassified; the record was 204 million pages in 1997. These figures cover 41 federal agencies, excluding the CIA, whose classification totals are secret. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/04/report_says_us_data_secrecy_expanding_and_getting_costlier/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 02:45:04 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Not Even Web Retailers Will Be Exempt From the Aftereffects of Katrina By BOB TEDESCHI September 5, 2005 AS the Gulf Coast reels from Katrina's devastation, online businesses are struggling to gauge the impact of the possible loss of half a million prospective customers for weeks or months. "This is a tough one, because it is a big market," said Patti Freeman Evans, an analyst with Jupiter Research, an Internet consulting firm. "You can't get goods in there, and people aren't in their homes anyway, so there's not much companies can do." According to comScore Networks, an Internet research and consulting firm, 860,000 people, on average, surfed the Web from their homes or offices in New Orleans and the Mississippi towns of Biloxi and Gulfport each day in the week preceding the storm. People who fled the Gulf Coast will no doubt find Internet access in their temporary homes, but few are likely to look on the Web for the necessities of life. Online travel agencies like Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz are no doubt feeling the pinch more than most online retailers. Not only must they cope with a deluge of calls from customers who had booked trips to the Gulf Coast and now want their money back, they must also face up to the possibility of a slump in sales as some vacationers and business executives deterred from flying to New Orleans drop their travel plans altogether. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/technology/05ecom.html?ex=1283572800&en=729119de4961aaf5&ei=5090 ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 06:30:38 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 14:30:10 -0700, John L. Shelton wrote: > It will be very hard to convince me that 100k people in New Orleans > were incapable of leaving in advance. Many poor people have cars, or > have friends/families with cars. There were enough cars in NO to > evacuate everyone. Maybe you're having problems being convinced since you're well off enough to have a vehicle to take you where you need to go. Many people in the area are poor and probably had no way to move themselves and their families out of there. I'm not sure why you're assuming that there are enough cars in New Orleans to evacuate everyone. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects Organization: ATCC Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 11:18:01 -0400 In article , latimes@telecom- digest.org says: > http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-levee4sep04,0,6360838,full.story > By Richard A. Serrano and Nicole Gaouette LA Times Writers > KATRINA'S AFTERMATH > Despite Warnings, Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects. To cut > spending, officials gambled that the worst-case scenario would not > come to be. > September 4, 2005 > WASHINGTON - For years, Washington had been warned that doom lurked > just beyond the levees. And for years, the White House and Congress > had dickered over how much money to put into shoring up century-old > dikes and carrying out newer flood control projects to protect the > city of New Orleans. > As recently as three months ago, the alarms were sounding -- and being > brushed aside. Why don't we cast the blame where it belongs? I love how media is now trying to spin this as Clinton's fault, etc. You have to remember that during most of Clinton's term he had to contend with a Republican controlled congress. And now we've got Republican control in all three branches. So tell me what the real problem is. ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Internet is Bulletin Board For Katrina Victims Date: 5 Sep 2005 18:28:12 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , TELECOM Digest Editor's said: > Note: Also consider http://wwl.com which is maintained by WWL-TV, > channel 4 in New Orleans. I've seen your references to this before. Actually, wwl.com is the website of 870AM radio, WWL-AM. The television station's website is http://www.wwltv.com, which has, among other things, a streaming video feed of their broadcast. I watched it pretty much continuously during most of the crisis. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are correct; my error, sorry. One can watch up to the minute news regards Katrina and otherwise there, and one can also read/post 'missing persons' ads tgere as well. Other than when they were forced out of their studio because of the rising waters, they were on 24/7 with coverage. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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) RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308 and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest ************************************************************************* * 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. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #405 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Sep 6 18:52:49 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 2B2A314FC7; Tue, 6 Sep 2005 18:52:49 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #406 Message-Id: <20050906225249.2B2A314FC7@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 18:52:49 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Tue, 6 Sep 2005 18:53:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 406 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson No Thanks, Don't Need Rescuing Here (Patrick Jonsson) Red Cross Web Site Has 100,000 Katrina Visitors (Reuters News Wire) What Detirmines New Orleans' Future? (Meridian Magazine) Alternative News re: Katrina; Some Guys Who Got Away (Debbie Tubiolo) Investors Get Behind Podcasting, But Will Listeners? (Monty Solomon) How Smart is Your Cellphone? (Monty Solomon) You Can't Foil These Parking Meters; Technology Makes Easier (Solomon) More Parents Going High-Tech to Track Kids (Monty Solomon) Big Bucks Back Next Mobile Frontier: Broadcast TV (Monty Solomon) These Online Ads Rely on Telephones; They Use Pay-per-call (M. Solomon) Coming For Cellphones: 411 (Monty Solomon) Game's Over For These Software Innovators (Monty Solomon) Skylink Group Launches Interactive Wireless Security System (PRN) Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects (Robert Bonomi) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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: Patrik Jonsson Subject: No Thanks, No Rescuing Needed Here Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 14:00:45 -0500 from the September 06, 2005 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0906/p11s01-ussc.html By Patrik Jonsson, reporter for Christian Science Monitor In New Orleans, not everyone wants to be rescued Some residents stick with flooded homes -- despite officials' concerns in hope things will get better soon. NEW ORLEANS - Gregory Scott steers a commandeered pleasure boat through the flotsam of New Orleans's flooded 17th Ward, occasionally scraping bottom -- actually, the roofs of submerged cars. The area of modest two-story and shotgun-style homes seems empty of life -- and officials believe that hundreds who tried to ride out hurricane Katrina here may have perished in their attics. But Mr. Scott, who makes his presence known by blasting a hand-held horn as he maneuvers the boat forward, knows there's life -- even laundry -- in some quarters. "There's people all through here," says mate Timothy Waters. A mucky brown soup flows through what used to be the 17th Ward's neighborhood of Holly Grove, the only spot Scott has ever called home. Under almost 10 feet of water, the Beautiful People club is gone. Scott's own house, with a broken window where he climbed out just ahead of rising waters, is part of a scene so macabre that even New Orleansian vampire-novelist Anne Rice might struggle to imagine it. Yet while thousands finally got out over the Labor Day weekend, Scott and Waters are holding on -- just two of many who are fierce in their determination to stay, keeping their feet planted in the muck of this Cajun Atlantis. Such decisions perturb emergency-response officials, who warn that public-health risks posed by the fetid floodwater may worsen, and that two months of flood conditions may await residents who insist upon staying put. A stubborn resistance to leaving, they add, will only waste time and resources of an already-overtaxed search-and-rescue operation. The mission remains dangerous, as a nonfatal crash of a civilian rescue helicopter late Sunday illustrated. Dennis Nunez, a Louisiana wildlife officer, has seen hundreds of people living deep in the neighborhoods. Some told rescue workers to move on, to save others first. In one mostly Vietnamese neighborhood, people were feeling comfortable enough to have gone fishing, and were drying fresh fish on their porches. "They won't come out," says Mr. Nunez. Less panic, more patience. As response to Katrina enters its second week, 17,000 National Guardsmen patrolled the Big Easy by foot, helicopter, and boat, and the atmosphere shifted from one of panic and scattered violence to one of a soggy siege. Here on the Jefferson Parish line, a few miles from where the 17th Street Canal was breached last Tuesday, the water line has fallen hardly at all as of Sunday afternoon. On Sunday, many hangers-on gave up. Rescuers pulled one woman, barely conscious, from her home, mattress and all. The job of the day: Extricating a frightened, 400-pound man. Another woman came ashore with three cat carriers, each one containing three cats. But the conflict between the stranded and the rescuers is playing itself out in ways that, at times, seem bizarre. Rescue helicopters have even come under sniper fire, police say, as some resist relocation. "It's hard on the rescuers, to risk their lives and have somebody say, 'I don't want to be saved.' It boggles your mind," says Lt. Col. Pete Schneider, a spokesman for the Homeland Security Department, in Baton Rouge, La. Rescue volunteer Jef Talbert, who has arrived from Texas in a friend's flat-bottom boat (which he's promised to return without bullet holes), says it's an odd feeling to be loading every gun he owns before he heads out to rescue people. Scott, Waters, and six other men are locals who are aiding with the rescue, camping on a plot of high ground. They've rescued hundreds since last Tuesday, asking only food and water in return. They're using whatever equipment is at hand -- whether an 18-wheel truck (which they stalled out in deep water) or a waterski boat with a 130 horsepower Yamaha four-stroke on the back. As they shove aside downed wires and look for submerged cars and street signs that can damage the propeller on "their" boat, Scott and Waters shout at one house and toot the horn. Two men emerge onto the porch. "Day 7," yells Anthony Belt, refusing his rescuers, indicating he's got food. He also has a flat-bottom sloop in case he really has to get out. As the number of those in need, or want, of being rescued diminishes, rescuers are shifting priorities: If they see someone has stockpiled supplies, they've stopped handing out more food. "If they're not coming out, we're not going to force them," says Lieutenant Colonel Schneider. "But we can't keep coming back to resupply." Fish dinner. If some survivors are struggling, increasingly aware that they are surrounded by a huge septic tank, others seem to be doing fine. Rescuers report seeing large Vietnamese families cooking fish and "looking very comfortable," some even keeping fish in makeshift pools, then hanging them out to dry. Indeed, the stayers-on may be clinging to a belief that, beyond the muck, is hope. For some, a desire to protect their property is the driving factor in their decisions to stay, and others simply have nowhere else to go and are clinging to their patch of the globe. After surviving for a week in hellish conditions, many say perhaps things will only get better, suggests Mike Lindell, a psychologist at Louisiana State University. "We're in uncharted territory for human behavior." Two women who had walked through chest-high water from the Superdome to their homes to get fresh clothes were glad to jump in Scott's boat, but then started to bicker with each other. Scott wanted none of it. Voice rising, he sounded off, saying the women should lay aside petty differences as they pass through waters of death. As the boat neared a staging area where rescue workers bring their human cargo, one woman, Tina Collins, turned around and said, quietly, "thank you." Back on the levee, Scott, a tailor and French Quarter doorman, says he's found a new calling that lets him stay close to home, bringing his neighbors to safety when they're ready. Despite the rough conditions, he has no wish to leave. "They say a rat has many holes, but I've got only one," he says. "And I plan on going down in it." www.csmonitor.com | Copyright 2005 The Christian Science Monitor. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Read the Monitor and the NY Times on line each day here: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, the Christian Science Publishing Society. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Red Cross Web Site Has One Hundred Thousand Visitors re Katrina Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 14:04:19 -0500 Nearly 100,000 seek family on Katrina site says Red Cross Nearly 100,000 people have registered on a Red Cross Web page set up to help trace family members missing or separated since Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast, a spokesman said on Tuesday. The number of entries on the family links site, set up with the American Red Cross, rose overnight from 65,000 to 94,000, according to Florian Westphal, spokesman of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). People in the disaster area can register on the Web page to inform their family and friends that they are safe and provide their current contact details, while those looking for loved ones can check the list for information. "One message we'd like to pass to the public out there is to keep checking it regularly because new data and entries are being added all the time," Westphal told a briefing. People who have re-established contact with their family members should have their names removed from the list, which can be accessed via www.familylinks.icrc.org. Within the United States, the Web site can also be reached via a toll free phone number + 1 877 568 3317 -- corresponding to +1 877 LOVED1s. Hundreds of thousands of evacuees are taking refuge in shelters, hotels and private homes across the United States after one of the country's worst natural disasters. The ICRC, a humanitarian agency which helps countries cope with wars and natural disasters, has also sent five family tracing experts to the United States, at the request of the American Red Cross. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Meridian Magazine Subject: What Detirmines New Orleans Future? Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 14:10:34 -0500 Culture Clips - Sept. 6, 2005 What determines if a city recovers from disaster? To the water-soaked citizenry of New Orleans, short term-issues -- water, power, even surviving -- are no doubt paramount today. But over the coming weeks, months and years, this city must come to grips with issues that have determined whether urban areas thrive despite tragedy, or simply decline in its wake. Like the Mississippi itself, cities have risen and fallen through history. Herodotus noted in his own time, the fifth century B.C., that "human prosperity never abides long in the same place." Many of the cities that were "great" in his time were small in the recent past, he noted, while many leading cities of his youth had shrunk into relative insignificance. Herodotus considered understanding the causes of this rise and fall to be among the major callings of historians. Identifying why a city prospers or not over time remains highly relevant, not only for tragedy-struck New Orleans, but for virtually all Western cities in the age of terror. Current intellectual fashion tells us that the crisis in New Orleans stems primarily from human mismanagement of the environment. Yet blaming global warming or poor river management practices will not bring the city back to its condition last month, much less return it to the greatness that defined it in its 19th-century heyday. The key to understanding the fate of cities lies in knowing that the greatest long-term damage comes not from nature or foreign attacks, but often from self-infliction. Cities are more than physical or natural constructs; they are essentially the products of human will, faith and determination. A city whose residents have given up on their future or who lose interest in it are unlikely to respond to great challenges. Decaying cities throughout history--Rome in the fifth century, Venice in the 18th--both suffered from a decayed sense of civic purpose and prime. In this circumstance, even civic leaders tend to seek out their own comfortable perches within the city or choose to leave it entirely to its poorer, less mobile residents. This has been occurring for decades in the American rust belt -- think of Detroit, Cleveland and St. Louis -- or to the depopulated cores in old industrial regions in the British Midlands, Germany and Russia. Happily, urban history also contains examples of cities that have rebounded from natural and other devastation, sometimes far worse than that wrought on New Orleans. Carthage, purposely destroyed and planted with salt by its Roman conquerors, later re-emerged as a prominent urban center, becoming the home of St. Augustine, author of "City of God." Modern times, too, offer examples which can inspire New Orleans residents. Tokyo and London rose from near total devastation in 1945. Perhaps even more remarkable, albeit on a smaller scale, has been the successful rebuilding of Hiroshima into an industrial powerhouse and one of Japan's most pleasant seaside cities. Joel Kotkin Opinion Journal http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=3D110007206 Imagining the Unimaginable Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour called the damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina "unimaginable." We no longer have to imagine the death and destruction; We are seeing the unimaginable become tragic reality 24/7 on our TV screens. The challenge now facing Congress and Gulf-State legislatures is to imagine the unimaginable future -- while doing everything possible to assist people recover from the current emergency -- to prepare for future emergencies, reform and restructure government, which clearly failed catastrophically at all levels during the last week, and incentivize and empower private ownership and private enterprise. The huge calamity of Katrina and the need to rebuild the Gulf Coast provides Congress and state legislatures with the opportunity to implement big ideas that could begin to transform America in the first decade of the 21st century. We have a golden opportunity to "green line" the Delta and Gulf Coast with government policies that facilitate and empower the private sector and private citizens. Out of the tragedies of the U.S. Civil War and World War II, Presidents Lincoln and Roosevelt imagined an unimaginable future. They created transformative programs that helped define the American dream of ownership and economic empowerment. Lincoln's Homesteading Act empowered people with title to 160 acres of land, free, and Roosevelt's Federal Housing Authority and GI Bill of Rights offered ways for capital-less people to own a house and to receive higher education. As we think about the government's role in assisting people get back on their feet after Katrina, we should be thinking about how to expand private property rights, business ownership and create rational incentives to build a new Gulf Coast and Delta Region unencumbered by bureaucratic rules and strictures. We have an enormous opportunity to replace outmoded government programs and bureaucracies with public-private partnerships and new private institutions that are built upon the foundation of individual ownership, private property rights, personal responsibility and social justice that an ownership society brings. Jack Kemp Townhall http://www.townhall.com/columnists/jackkemp/jk20050905.shtml Copyright 2005 Meridian Magazine. http://www.meridianmagazine.com/ NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, Meridian Magazine, a daily news service of the LDS Church. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Debbie DKTubiolo Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 21:54 CST Subject: Alternative News re: Katrina From: David Melton To: info@equalitykansas.org,Debbie DKTubiolo Subject: Fw: alternative news re: Katrina Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 16:58:17 -0500 > Worth reading. The list of things to be mad about just gets longer and > longer every day. > Dave & Midori > "The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; > pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without > character; business without morality; science without humanity; and > worship without sacrifice." -Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) ----- Original Message ----- Hi family & friends, Check out this alternative to the news media re: Katrina. I feel it is important to balance out the info coming out of the major networks with this kind of info. Jose is a performance artist who sent this to a friend of the family who lives in N.O. and evacuated. Feel free to forward. Peace, Dori Subject: RE: Jose Torres Tama "Hurricane Katrina and the chaos of New Orleans in her aftermath" To all loved ones, friends/amigos, I am safe at Andrei Codrescu's house and writing from there. Below is an account of how I escaped through a wormhole in the madness. --Jose Hurricane Katrina and the chaos of New Orleans in her aftermath Amigos, how do I begin to speak a picture of the aftermath that was an even greater terror than the physical damage that Hurricane Katrina spawned as some kind of water fury birthing an urban Kali-like chaos fueled further by the incompetence of local and state officials? The continuous quantity of misinformation that local and national media began spewing out was irresponsible and more than incorrect at times as the resilient and mythic city of New Orleans was already being pronounced dead and those of us who voluntarily chose to stay behind in hopes of helping to repair whatever damage Katrina might inflict were eventually sequestered by bad news, the ineptitude of local governance and currently the national disaster relief creating an apocalypse. I chose to stay because I am devoted to a city I love and was willing to ride out any natural storm in a metropolis that has survived yellow fever epidemics and two early fires that cindered the old French Quarter to the ground so that the Spanish could rebuild it when it was a capital of its providences -- even before there was a United States. New Orleans has a history before the imagination of thirteen colonies dreamed a revolution against the British to proclaim their independence. This city is African, Latin, Caribbean, French, Spanish, Irish, Italian, Vietnamese and Honduran and only after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 did it have an "American" presence and become part of the Union that is now denying it its last breath. So I ask you where is the compassionate conservative regime that seems politically poised to punish this first multiracial port city in the hemispheric Americas that recently voted itself the color blue in a red state? Is a Christian maniacal executive chief whipping New Orleans into submission like so many African slaves were whipped by similar bible-toting masters only a century and half ago? I am offering such a historical timeline and perspective on how the past effects the present because we are generally uniformed about this city that is more than Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest and the party town of the Old South. I am pleading for a collective scream from coast to coast to save this eclectic relic of a city that has been a home for many -- from one century to another. New Orleans deserves an organized effort of heart and efficiency. It has survived hurricanes before, but it is having trouble surviving the official storm masquerading as a savior. How is it that this great empire of capital and industry cannot manage to organize its technology to mount a proper rescue for the most precious pueblo in its possession? I was able to get out on the Wednesday after Katrina hit when the city officials ordered the water shut down. The water was cut and it was time to go. And I had to flee this city that I have lived in for the past twenty years not via the efforts of authorized personnel but via a pirate bus, a yellow vehicle with the Jefferson Parish School Board brand on its side -- a bus that operated the kind of rescue mission only imagined in a Louisiana Hollywood bayou version of "Hotel Rwanda." I escaped with my partner Claudia Copeland, my writer friend Jimmy Nolan, who is a fifth-generation native born in the middle of an unnamed hurricane, and his neighbor who I only know as Kip. Kip was on his third day of survival without access to a dialysis machine that cleans his liver and allows him to live. We, the ones who stubbornly stay from one hurricane to another that places us in the "cone of uncertainty," do so because we understand that our human resilience after the natural storm will help rebuild and weather whatever mother nature decides to throw at us. We know how to live with hurricanes and their aftermath, but we were not prepared for the official sequestering that unleashed an even more furious storm of urban desperation. Desperation that festered like an untreated wound in an August summer. Yes, Katrina was a force to be reckoned with and her damage was more catastrophic than Hurricane Andrew which hit west of New Orleans in the early '90's. Yes, there was flooding in East New Orleans, the ninth ward, the Bywater, the Lakeside area, but it was never reported that most of the French Quarter and parts of the second historic neighborhood called the Faubourg Marigny that borders the old city was mostly above water and actually very dry only hours after the category five pounding of Katrina. We were recipients of all the prayers and rituals that keep New Orleans from total destruction because the Virgin Mary, Yemaya and the river goddesses always protect us at the last possible minute and even Katrina did not hit us directly with her unrelenting winds and water. In this city that knows respect for the ancients, this city of ghosts and ancestors is ultimately protected by the magic chants, offerings and incantations of the local voodoo practitioners who are at work every hurricane season to make their voices heard so that mother nature veers her force just enough to allow us another year of life. I have more faith in the voodoo practitioners and their prayers for the city than the officials of local and state government whose perplexing decisions began plunging us into greater despair after the storm. I live on Dauphine Street in the Marigny neighborhood that extends down river of the Quarter. We were mostly dry and the camel-back house that I rent had very little damage with some of the siding blown along the side yard. I am a pantheist and like other New Orleanians, I have altars at my house. I am in belief that the one altar to "La Virgen Maria" inspired the large fig tree to fall towards the spacious yard and away from the back porch. Had it fallen in the opposite direction, it would have crushed half of the house. As such, most of the houses in this area were intact-structurally with one or two houses compromised by a fallen tree. Yes, trees lined a variety of parallel streets with names like Royal and Burgundy. These streets were impassible, but this was minor as compared to the more eastern sections of the city that were closer to the eye of the storm. We were spared Katrina's eye and the Northeastern quadrant that always carries a greater punch as demonstrated by the destructive remnants seen in Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi. Overall, this area and the middle of the French Quarter where I rode out the storm at Jimmy's house was not flooded in contrast to local and national reports that were carelessly assessing the Quarter as being "destroyed". Can you imagine the terror that this bad information evoked in my mother who lives in Jersey City, New Jersey and had been praying for me, Claudia and my friends since before Katrina hit on Sunday night? My mother is a devout Catholic and she prays with heartfelt belief that God will hear you in times of despair. But the misinformation and irresponsible reports began at 10pm that night when the local CBS affiliate Channel 4, which had relocated a crew to Baton Rouge, began reporting that the weather conditions in the French Quarter had already deteriorated. They began sounding off a false alarm to anyone that had changed their minds at this time of night and were considering to seek safer shelter. Their "news" was that it was too dangerous to walk the streets of the Quarter now in search of shelter at the Superdome because the weather conditions had "deteriorated." This was absolutely untrue -- false, a fabricated "news" lie by reporters who were 85 miles away at the state capitol. I was there in the middle of the French Quarter and the conditions were such that some light rain and wind was all that you could experience. In fact, I was on a second floor balcony in the heart of the Vieux Carre at Dumaine and Royal Street, and certainly if anyone was in belief of this information, they would have lost a chance to seek shelter. Where these reporters were getting their misinformation from and recycling it out to the local community is unknown to me, but for a crew safely stowed away in Baton Rouge, they had no right to spew out this nonsense. Not only was this more of the sensationalized rubbish disguising itself as journalism, but these reporters began selling panic as a consumer item. Yes, it was beyond being irresponsible because while they were sitting over-caked in make-up in a safe makeshift studio, they became an ugly metaphor for the spewing of misinformation and panic mongering that grew into an apocalyptic speculation that already had the city under twenty-feet of water even when Katrina was 100 miles away and moving eastward. They digressed into a reality TV news show that was now using Katrina as a measure for high ratings. Be aware that when a hurricane is in the Gulf the reporters and weather men and women are the stars of the show. These were not journalists bringing you information, for they resembled chattering egos positioning themselves for "glorious coverage" -- not unlike the city council officials who were also gloating in the applause for themselves for their "contra-flow" evacuation strategies that again turned the interstate 10 east and west into a parking lot of more desperation. It seemed that very little had improved from last year's highway experiment that clogged evacuees for ten hours to move thirty miles outside of the city in either direction as Hurricane Ivan "the terrible" had us in its "cone of uncertainty" then. Come every June, we, as citizens of New Orleans, know that we will be placed in the "cone of uncertainty" again and again by newly-named storms and depressions that may organize themselves into hurricanes of categories from one to five. We prepare as always by shuddering our homes, boarding any exposed windows, gathering batteries, canned foods, candles, flashlights, wine and bottled water. We are efficient in such rituals and can make our environments hurricane ready in a few hours of concentrated energy. We are not made desperate by the threats of hurricanes that come into the Gulf of Mexico every year, but after Katrina hit, we became some kind of social experiment as water supplies were cut off and rumors that the city may not be brought back to even the least of working conditions for the next two to three months spread as much as the other information that had the French Quarter flooding on Tuesday afternoon because of the levee breaches and the failure of the national rescue efforts to secure that damage. By the afternoon of Wednesday, August 31, on other rumors that private hotels like the Hotel Monteleone at the Canal St. end of the Quarter were possibly having buses evacuate their guests to safety, we purchased the hope of a $45 dollar ticket to Houston, TX on a fleet of vehicles that were to arrive by 6pm. The hotel management had organized a twenty-five thousand dollar rescue mission of chartered buses escorted by state police to take their trapped guests to safety. A few hundred residents had learned of this priceless information, and most notably only a few feet away Allen Toussaint, the legendary composer and musician, was standing in line with myself, Claudia, Jimmy, and Kip, the three hundred hotel guests and the other two-hundred lucky residents holding tickets out of the apocalypse. By 9pm the buses had not arrived and the hotel management was as confused us all of us waiting as to why we were still standing there at this time of night with the city police escort they had also hired just in case their missing buses were rushed by people without the proper tickets to board. When the yellow pirate school bus cut the dark like some night creature on the street pointing its blinding headlight eyes to the waiting hundreds some cheers broke the whisperings, and we finally thought our hired fleet of heroic rescue vehicles had arrived. The bus only arrived with the information that the fleet had been commandeered-confiscated -- stolen by local police officials acting on martial law. All along, I had placed myself in waiting close to the hotel management at the corner of Royal and Iberville to be in proximity to hear any information on what was unfolding. Only then did I speak to one of the yellow bus crew of two that told me there were no buses coming and that they were there relaying this difficult news while offering passage to Baton Rouge at fifty dollars a head. Imagine how this conversation was taking place in the flashlight lit dark of night on a French Quarter street corner where the sounds of madness were audible a block away on the infamous Bourbon Street that normally hosts an all-night party for Puritans and yahoos that come to unwind, drink, and throw up from all parts of the country because they cannot have that much fun in their own cities of social convention and Christian repression. Certainly, we made an offer to the bus driver for the four of us that was quite below their asking rate, and like any other transaction under the table in this city, it was accepted. We got on the bus as the Monteleone management was trying to figure out what to do and if to relay the bad news to the five-hundred people that were losing hope as the night grew more ominous. We handed over our collection of dollars to the bus driver and sat on the cold steel floor, with Allen Toussaint already having been the first to mount this pirate bus when it pulled up to the street. He sat among a small group of folks that were already on board -- occupying one of the coveted seats. I was ecstatic to be on any vehicle ready to drive me out of town and would have sat on the roof if I had to. If the Monteleone could privately engineer a rescue effort to bring in ten buses, then how is it possible that the city and state could not organize a fleet of 100 buses to rescue all the people left behind? These officials could have used the stealth training of the pirate bus crew that seemed to come in and out of town through back roads that were quite dry as opposed to news accounts that water compromised all land rescue efforts. We, the citizens of New Orleans who have managed to escape, are willing to mount our own pirate and private efforts to come and rescue our friends and family members who are still trapped by the infinite and mounting incompetence of those in command. I ask you to mount a collective scream of outrage and wolf howls into the airwaves, radio and TV stations, so that we can come in to do what we have always done in times of disaster and that is to lend a genuine human effort that is tribal community oriented and truly compassionate. We are being played as a reality TV show for political sadists who have the audacity to publicly say we are not worthy of governmental support because we are an old city. Just yesterday, I heard that a Republican politician spewed some vitriol to that effect. Yes, we are an old city in these young United States, and we have survived a few bad governments, slavery, and tropical plagues. Right now we are bearing witness to the social plague of heartlessness and racism, political inefficiency and it is denying life to this gumbo city of African, Caribbean, Spanish, French, Irish, and Italian influences. We are being denied the opportunity to rise into the future of this century. We are being denied the opportunity to return to the city we love and rebuild it as only we can-re-shape it into the grand dame that it has been from one century to another. Jose Torres Tama Baton Rouge, LA Saturday, September 3, 2005 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 21:44:27 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Investors Get Behind Podcasting; Will the Listeners? By Scott Kirsner | September 5, 2005 It was a milestone of some sort last month, when venture capitalists made the first two serious investments in podcasting start-ups. But did the milestone signify that podcasting is on the verge of dethroning radio -- or that the buzziest technology trend of 2005 had just jumped the shark? In early August, PodShow raised $8.85 million from a group of West Coast investors that included Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, and Ram Shriram, an early supporter of Google and a member of the search site's board. A few days later, Odeo cofounder Evan Williams announced on his blog that his company had raised money from Charles River Ventures of Waltham. Before starting Odeo in December, Williams had helped build Blogger, an early blog-creation and hosting site Google eventually acquired. Odeo didn't say how much it had raised, but the Charles River partner who made the investment, George Zachary, told me it is ''in the same order of magnitude as the PodShow amount." The entrepreneurs at PodShow and Odeo harbor big dreams for podcasting. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/05/investors_get_behind_podcasting_but_will_the_listeners/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 21:49:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: How Smart is Your Cellphone? Wider broadband service, upgraded networks spurring phone makers to produce ever more powerful devices By Keith Reed, Globe Staff | September 5, 2005 Is a cellphone 'smart' if it can listen to a song on the radio and identify it for you? How about one that let's you surf the Web, check e-mail,or maybe catch a little news fromCNN while you ride the subway to work? Just what makes a cellphone a 'smartphone,' anyway? Since the term became a buzzwordamong cellphone makers and service pro-viders, prevailing wisdom has held that it refers primarily to the slim but blocky PDA-style phones that include keyboards and PC-style operating systems, such as Microsoft's Windows Mobile edition. Those devices not only allow users to make phone calls, but to take advantage of 'smart' data services and do things like access corporate e-mail, send text messages, and even manipulate spreadsheets or run many popular business software applications. But lately, the defining characteristics of smart phones have shifted, driven by the broader availability of broadband wireless networks that can accommodate audio, video, and other services more popular among everyday users than mobile professionals. Handset makers are building more powerful phones aimed at everyday users, while service providers are spending billions to upgrade their networks, anticipating a surge in demand for services other than voice in the near future. http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2005/09/05/how_smart_is_your_cellphone/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 21:53:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: You Can't Foil These Parking Meters/Technology Makes it Easier Technology makes it easier to nail offending drivers By Associated Press | September 5, 2005 PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. -- In this seaside town, parking meters don't grant those magical few minutes on someone else's dime. Each time a car pulls away from a space, the meter automatically resets to zero. Little is left to chance in the brave new world of parking technology: Meters are triggered by remote sensors, customers pay for street time by cellphone, and solar-powered vending machines create customized parking plans for the motorist. Oh, and forget about rubbing the traffic officer's chalk mark off your tires on the streets of cities where short-term parking is free but overstays are punished by fines. If you're in Monterey, Calif., or Chicago, you're apt to be foiled by parking officials who drive minicarts outfitted with GPS-enabled cameras that scan your license plate and know how long a car has occupied the given space. Major metropolises like New York and Toronto have been phasing out coin-operated, single-spaced meters for years. But smaller cities including Aspen, Colo., and Savannah, Ga., have started ditching them, too. Advanced parking technologies can lower a city's operating costs, reduce staffing needs, and increase ticketing accuracy, resulting in fewer challenges in traffic court. Bill Francis, a vice president at the Los Angeles-based Walker Parking Consultants, says technology can also help local officials more smoothly collect on outstanding tickets, which for several cities he's familiar with added up to $4 million in just five years. Pacific Grove, a coastal resort town where visitors to the nearby Monterey Bay Aquarium and Pebble Beach golf course compete with locals for the few oceanside spaces, went for the gold when it went digital last year. It installed meters that increase parking fees over time, so that quick errands remain relatively inexpensive but long stays become more costly. A wire grid under the pavement triggers a sensor whenever a car pulls in. The information can be sent wirelessly via radio signals to traffic enforcers so they'd know when time runs out on any parking spot in town. The meter resets itself as soon as the car pulls away, so the next car has to pay the full fee. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/05/you_cant_foil_these_parking_meters/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 22:00:02 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: More Parents Going High-Tech to Track Kids By Martha Irvine, AP National Writer | September 5, 2005 CHICAGO --In this case, it isn't Big Brother who's watching -- it's Big Mother (or Father). Increasingly, parents are using high-tech methods to track everything from where their children are and how far they are driving to what they buy, what they eat and whether they've shown up for class. Often, the gadget involved is a simple cell phone that transmits location data. The details get delivered by e-mail, cell phone text message or the Web. Other times, the tech tool is a debit-like card used at a school lunch counter, or a device that lets parents know not only how far and fast the car is going, but also whether their child has been braking too hard or making jackrabbit starts. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/05/more_parents_going_high_tech_to_track_kids/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 22:03:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Big Bucks Back Next Mobile Frontier: Broadcast TV By Antony Bruno | September 5, 2005 SAN FRANCISCO (Billboard) - Want to watch TV on your mobile phone? The wireless industry is betting billions that you do. And they're not talking about just downloading or streaming on-demand videoclips to your phone. Efforts are afoot to broadcast TV programming nationwide to a new generation of mobile phones that can tune in, just like an at-home TV. Despite the billions of dollars U.S. wireless operators have spent upgrading their networks to offer such multimedia content as videos and music, they are insufficient for the job. The problem is that they are designed for two-way, on-demand access. To broadcast programming on such networks would require that each show be sent to each subscriber separately -- an impossibly time-consuming and expensive proposition. "It's very difficult to offer high-definition TV on a handset through existing networks," says Andrew Cole, an analyst with A.T. Kearney. "You have to offload that through a separate network." Several initiatives are under way to achieve just that, a separate wireless network built specifically for one-way multimedia broadcasting. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/05/big_bucks_back_next_mobile_frontier_broadcast_tv/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 22:28:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: These Online Ads Rely on Telephones Using Pay-per-Call These online ads rely on telephones Pay-per-call is finding its niche By Associated Press | September 5, 2005 DALLAS -- Personal-injury lawyer Frank Frasier wants the world to know about his business but didn't think much of the search-based Internet advertising that's all the rage. Potential clients wouldn't learn much about him through it, he figured, and he really can't tell if they have a case without speaking with them. But Frasier's opinion of Internet search advertising changed with the recent arrival of pay-per-call, which prompts Web surfers looking for lawyers in his hometown of Tulsa, Okla., to pick up the phone instead of clicking an ad or sending e-mail. ''We've gotten about a dozen calls and half turned into cases," Frasier said. ''I'm a believer." Pay-per-call could be especially powerful for businesses that ignored the Internet, advocates say. Most search advertising now takes a pay-per-click approach. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/05/these_online_ads_rely_on_telephones/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 22:31:29 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Coming for Cellphones: 411 Directory service can be crucial for small businesses By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff | September 5, 2005 Once, you had to pay the telephone company an extra fee if you wanted an unlisted number. These days, you can get one without even trying. Just get a cellular telephone, or one of those new Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone services. In most cases, directory assistance operators won't be able to find you. That's because cellphone and Internet phone providers have not plugged their customers' numbers into the big national phone number databases. That's good news for millions of consumers sick of harassment from telemarketers. But millions of others -- especially small-business people and the self-employed -- want their numbers listed. The absence of directory listings might persuade them to keep their traditional phones. But times are changing. Starting next year, millions of cellphone users will be available through the same 411 service that lists standard phone numbers. And there are moves afoot to include VOIP telephone numbers in phone directories, as well. Most of the nation's biggest wireless carriers have teamed up with Qsent Inc. of Portland, Ore., to produce a national databse of wireless phone numbers. "Our plan is to roll it out to all the major 411 providers in the country," said Greg Keene, Qsent's chief privacy officer. "For those of us that really want to be reached ... it'll be available." Directory assistance services are provided either by the phone companies themselves, or by independent firms like Infonxx Inc. of Bethlehem, Pa. When the Qsent database opens for business, these directory assistance providers will be able to connect to it and search for listed cellphone numbers. Cellphone users who don't want their numbers listed need not worry. This will be an 'opt-in' database. A user won't be listed unless he requests it, and can get delisted whenever he changes his mind. Numbers won't be printed in a phone book or sold to telemarketers. They will be available only by dialing directory assistance. Cingular, T-Mobile, Nextel, Alltel, and Sprint plan to participate in the system. But Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest cellphone carrier, with 47 million subscribers, wants no part of it. http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2005/09/05/coming_for_cellphones_411/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 22:37:34 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Game's Over For These Software Innovators By Hiawatha Bray | September 5, 2005 It's all fun and games, till somebody loses a lawsuit. That's what has happened to the creators of a piece of gaming software called BnetD, and their defeat suggests hard times ahead for well-meaning technology innovators who go too far. But Blizzard is different. The company runs its own private network, called Battle.net, with strict rules against cheating and vulgar behavior. Above all, there's an absolute ban on the use of illegally copied Blizzard games. The Battle.net system can spot a pirated copy of Diablo II a thousand miles away, and lock it out. Seems reasonable -- but not to a handful of gamers who want to run their own game networks, just as they could with other titles. These guys bought some Blizzard games, 'reverse-engineered' them to master their secrets, and wrote their own compatible server code, called BnetD. They weren't out to make a fast buck; BnetD was given away so that anybody could set up a private server for playing Blizzard games. Good clean fun? Blizzard didn't think so. BnetD servers work just fine with pirated copies of their games. BnetD's creators didn't intend to encourage software piracy; they even offered to include Blizzard's antipiracy code, if the company would hand it over. Fat chance, said Blizzard's chief operating officer, Paul Sams. "We would not, under any circumstances, provide something that is so critical to our business to anyone outside of the company," he said. Instead, Blizzard went after the BnetD programmers in federal court, demanding they stop distributing their product. The company argued that the license inside every Blizzard game forbids the customer from reverse-engineering the code. Blizzard also cited the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a controversial federal law designed to stamp out piracy. They said BnetD violated the act by deliberately enabling crooks to play illegal copies of Blizzard games. http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2005/09/05/games_over_for_these_software_innovators/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 06 Sep 2005 17:15:23 +0400 From: Editor (PRN) Subject: Skylink Group Launches Interactive Wireless Security System ew automation and alert product alleviates the stress of intruders whether you are home or away. Toronto, ON - Sep 6, 2005 (PRN): The Skylink Group, a leader in wireless technology, today announced the launch of AAA+ (Alarm, Alert, Automation and Communicator), the first of its kind in the world. The AAA+ is an automated alarm system which can be monitored while you are away from your home and can also act as an alert mechanism for when the homeowner is inside their dwelling. "We're excited about our newest wireless security, alert and automation product. This is the first product on the market that can provide homeowners with a total security package that is expandable and can easily be customized. It allows the homeowner to monitor the security of their home regardless of whether they are home or away, said Philip Tsui, CEO of Skylink. The AAA+ wireless alarm system provides travelling homeowners with the ability to monitor their home via telephone or cell phone by simply calling the automated control panel and entering a password. Once dialled into the control panel, the homeowner is able to monitor the sensors placed on doors and windows and turn on/off a wireless device simply by the push of a button. When sensors detect an intrusion, the voice dialler connected to the control panel can be set to either call the homeowner immediately and/or dial a monitoring station, which will alert the homeowner as to which sensor has been triggered. Up to five call-back numbers can be programmed into the system control panel. The AAA+ will also notify the homeowners as to activity that is taking place outside of the house. If an intruder(s) is approaching the house or if the homeowner forgets to close the garage door, front door, window or even if there is flooding, the AAA+ unit's sensor will activate. Tsui went on to say, "The AAA+ monitoring system alleviates the stress of leaving your home unattended for any period of time. With the AAA+ monitoring system installed in your home, you no longer have to be concerned about your valuables while on vacation or simply away for the night. The AAA+ system is available at select independent retailers across Canada and US or online at www.skylinkhome.com. The system retails for $169.99 (U.S.) or $219.99 (CDN). About Skylink Skylink understands the needs and concerns of the homeowner in providing a safe haven and comfortable environment for their family. Established in 1990, Skylink has offices in Brampton, Ontario, Canada; Ontario City, California, US and Hong Kong. RF Design, electronic design, software design, mechanical design and graphic design departments for new and existing product lines are housed in the Hong Kong offices. For more information, contact: Stephen Murdoch Consultant OEB International Phone: (905) 682-7203 Email: smurdoch@oeb.com Philip Tsui CEO Skylink Phone: (800) 304-1187 Email: philipt@skylinkhome.com ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? Date: 5 Sep 2005 23:51:23 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , John L. Shelton wrote: > It will be very hard to convince me that 100k people in New Orleans > were incapable of leaving in advance. Many poor people have cars, or > have friends/families with cars. There were enough cars in NO to > evacuate everyone. Interestingly, the prophetic series by the Times-Picayune back in 2002 predicted exactly that: http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf?/washingaway/leftbehind_1.html "...And 100,000 people without transportation will be especially threatened. .... A large population of low-income residents do not own cars and would have to depend on an untested emergency public transportation system to evacuate them." The entire series is available here: http://www.nola.com/hurricane/?/washingaway/ John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects Date: Tue, 06 Sep 2005 18:54:57 -0000 Organization: Widgets, Inc. In article , Tony P. wrote: > In article , latimes@telecom- > digest.org says: > http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-levee4sep04,0,6360838,full.story >> By Richard A. Serrano and Nicole Gaouette LA Times Writers >> KATRINA'S AFTERMATH >> Despite Warnings, Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects. To cut >> spending, officials gambled that the worst-case scenario would not >> come to be. >> September 4, 2005 >> WASHINGTON - For years, Washington had been warned that doom lurked >> just beyond the levees. And for years, the White House and Congress >> had dickered over how much money to put into shoring up century-old >> dikes and carrying out newer flood control projects to protect the >> city of New Orleans. > >> As recently as three months ago, the alarms were sounding -- and being >> brushed aside. > Why don't we cast the blame where it belongs? I love how media is now > trying to spin this as Clinton's fault, etc. > You have to remember that during most of Clinton's term he had to > contend with a Republican controlled congress. And now we've got > Republican control in all three branches. > So tell me what the real problem is. Yeah, do tell. *WHY* is such an issue the Federal Government's problem in the first place? Protecting New Orleans from the inevitable acts of nature is _NEW_ORLEANS'_ problem. Why wasn't New Orleans city government, and/or Parish government, and/or Louisiana state government *doing*something*?? Why were they burying their head in the sand, and waiting for the Feds to 'solve' *their* problem? Didn't the _locals_ *know* the risks when they moved or built there? Didn't they *know* they were living in the floodwater basin? Who's fault is it that _4_out_of_5_ residents/businesses in that KNOWN TO BE VULNERABLE TO FLOODING area do *NOT* have flood insurance? (it was published somewhere recently that only approximately 21% of the properties in the flooded areas were covered by flood insurance). That _Federally_sponsored_ program has been in place for nearly *40* years. Bush isn't to blame. Clinton isn't to blame. Congress isn't to blame. The fools who live there and _didn't_buy_insurance_ against a KNOWN hazard, are reaping the "benefits" of their bad judgement. *THEY* didn't buy flood insurance. *THEY* didn't fund (*locally*) the upgrading of the protection for _their_ property. Yes, what has happened *is* a disaster. Yes, government, including the Feds, should pitch in to: 1) save lives; 2) evacuate (*forcibly*, if necessary) everyone from the 'un-liveable' areas; 3) alleviate the public health hazards posed by dead bodies (whether human or animal); 4) work on restoring 'essential services'. That is a *big* job. A VERY VERY big job. To put it in perspective, the area of devastation is somewhat larger than _all_ of Great Britain. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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. 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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. 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 V24 #406 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Sep 7 13:44:56 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 9945515047; Wed, 7 Sep 2005 13:44:55 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #407 Message-Id: <20050907174455.9945515047@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 13:44:55 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, CELL_PHONE_IMPROVE,NO_COST autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Wed, 7 Sep 2005 13:44:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 407 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Damage Tops $400 Million (Monty Solomon) Apple Expected to Unveil Cellphone Equipped With iPod (Monty Solomon) Mobile Music Buys May Bring Meager Carrier Profit (Monty Solomon) DIRECTV to Offer Free HDTV Upgrade (Monty Solomon) Conqueror in a War of Virtual Worlds (Monty Solomon) Qwest Tech Shot in Minneapolis (Rob Barbeau) Microsoft, Google Face Off in Court (Reuters News Wire) Group Claims Yahoo Helped Jail Journalist (Alexa Olesen) Katrina Children Shown on Web Site (Reuters News Wrie) Unwanted Calls (R.W. Bytheway) Mark Cuccia From New Orleans is Safe (Joseph) OpenWengo: Open Source Alternative for Skype? (totojepast@razdva.cz) Google Talk Using Supernodes for VoIP? (totojepast@razdva.cz) Force Group in IP Office (ozkan_aziz@hotmail.com) Bob Denver as Maynard (Lisa Hancock) Telecom Update's New Sponsors (Angus TeleManagement Group) Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects (Lisa Hancock) Re: You Can't Foil These Parking Meters/Tech Makes it Easier (Atkinson ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 22:49:42 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Telecom Damage Tops $400 Million Telecom Damage Tops $400 Million BellSouth Says Repairs May Take Months By Arshad Mohammed Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, September 6, 2005; D06 Telephone company BellSouth Corp. yesterday estimated that it would cost $400 million to $600 million to repair the damage from Hurricane Katrina and said it could take four to six months to restore service in the hardest-hit areas of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. The Atlanta-based company, the dominant phone service provider in much of the South, stressed that those were preliminary estimates. It has not yet been able to survey all of its sites given the breadth of the area struck by the hurricane a week ago. BellSouth said an estimated 1.1 million of its lines were out in the region, with 90 percent of these in what it calls the "red zone" -- New Orleans, areas north of the city and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. That is down from 1.75 million lines that were out late last week. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/05/AR2005090501231.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 10:07:56 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Apple Expected to Unveil Cellphone Equipped With iPod Stakes are high for computer firm, partner Motorola By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff | September 7, 2005 High-tech industry analysts say Motorola Inc. and Apple Computer Inc. are likely to introduce today the first cellular telephone that can double as an iPod portable music player. "I think it has a chance of being a major product," said Roger Entner, wireless phone analyst for Ovum, a Boston research firm. "It just adds another tool to that Swiss Army knife we call wireless phones." Entner said he has spoken to executives familiar with the new device. Longtime Apple-watcher Tim Bajarin, of Creative Strategies Inc, in Campbell, Calif., said he also has heard about the new product from his contacts at cellular telephone service provider Cingular Wireless, which is expected to be the first cellphone company to market the new device. Development of the iPod phone is no secret; Apple and Motorola unveiled plans for such a device in July 2004. The stakes are high for both companies. Apple's iPods are by far the most popular portable music players, renowned for their beauty and ease of use. One-third of Apple's third-quarter 2005 sales of $3.5 billion was generated by iPod. But rivals continue to unveil products, including cellphones with music players. Meanwhile, Motorola of Chicago, the world's number-two cellphone maker, is enjoying a rebound. After years of sluggish performance, Motorola chief executive Edward Zander has rejuvenated the company by launching a line of stylish cellphones like the wafer-thin Razr. Adding an iPod phone to the Motorola stable could help the company gain ground on cellphone leader Nokia of Finland. Apple last week invited journalists to a major product unveiling set for today in San Francisco, but the company has maintained its usual strict secrecy about what it will say. http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2005/09/07/apple_expected_to_unveil_cellphone_equipped_with_ipod/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 10:12:41 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Mobile Music Buys May Bring Meager Carrier Profit By Sinead Carew | September 7, 2005 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cell phones may become the new way for the iPod masses to download and listen to music in the coming years, but wireless companies may not see much of a boost to their profits from selling such services. The biggest U.S. mobile service companies are considering selling phones that can play songs and some have plans to deliver music to phones over the wireless airwaves, in a bid to boost revenue as phone call prices drop. Analysts expect Cingular Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile service, to reveal plans on Wednesday to sell a new Motorola Inc. phone that comes with iTunes, the music store software from Apple Computer Inc., whose iPod player dominates the portable digital music market. At least initially, Cingular is expected to let users transfer songs to the phone from computers rather than through wireless download services. POOR PROFIT MARGINS FOR SONGS Despite all the excitement about wireless song purchases, such mobile music is likely to deliver much poorer profit margins than wireless carriers are used to from phone calls or other services such as ringtones, one analyst said. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/09/07/mobile_music_buys_may_bring_meager_carrier_profit/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 00:00:34 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DIRECTV to Offer Free HDTV Upgrade The switch will likely require a programming commitment. By Phillip Swann Washington D.C. (September 6, 2005) -- DIRECTV revealed tonight that it will offer a free system upgrade for High-Definition TV owners so they can get local high-def channels later this year. DIRECTV is expected to begin offering local HD in 12 markets by year's end. However, the channels will only be available on new DIRECTV MPEG-4 receivers and dishes, which have yet to go on sale. Until now, it was uncertain if current HDTV owners would have to pay up to $300 to buy a new receiver to get the local high-def signals. However, Robert Mercer, a DIRECTV spokesman, told TVPredictions.com Tuesday night that current HDTV owners would be offered a free upgrade. An estimated 600,000 DIRECTV subscribers have high-def sets. http://www.tvpredictions.com/freehdtv090605.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 22:15:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Conqueror in a War of Virtual Worlds By SETH SCHIESEL Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment wanted to make a big splash in the video game world back in March when it introduced Matrix Online, a massively multiplayer online game based on the once-hot film franchise. The game made a big splash all right, like a belly flop. Over its first three months the game signed up fewer than 50,000 subscribers, a pittance, so in June Warner cut bait and agreed to sell the game to Sony. Last month Matrix Online was downsized from nine virtual "realms" to three, because users were having a hard time finding one another in the game's vast digital ghost town. The troubles of Matrix Online were partly of Warner's own making; many players and critics agree that the game is a mediocre experience. But the online market used to make room for mediocre games. Now, the broader phenomenon is that so many contenders, including Matrix Online, simply cannot stand up to the overwhelming popularity of online gaming's new leviathan: World of Warcraft, made by Blizzard Entertainment, based in Irvine, Calif. With its finely polished, subtly humorous rendition of fantasy gaming -- complete with mages, orcs, dragons and demons -- World of Warcraft has become such a runaway success that it is now prompting a debate about whether it is helping the overall industry by bringing millions of new players into subscription-based online gaming or hurting the sector by diverting so many dollars and players from other titles. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/06/arts/design/06worl.html?ex=1283659200&en=7057c2e17780c600&ei=5090 ------------------------------ From: Rob Barbeau Subject: Qwest Tech Shot in Minneapolis Date: 7 Sep 2005 05:55:47 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5600215.html Didn't see anyone had posted this yet. On the radio this morning the announcer said the man was still in critical condition. ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Microsoft, Google Face Off in Court Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 10:25:37 -0500 Attorneys for Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. faced off in court on Tuesday over whether an executive familiar with the world's largest software maker's plans in China could begin working for the search engine leader. Microsoft is asking King County Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez for a preliminary injunction to stop former vice president Kai-Fu Lee from working for Google ahead of a trial scheduled for January 2006. Microsoft attorney Jeffrey Johnson argued in court that Lee, who built Microsoft's Beijing research and development center, is violating a non-compete contract that he signed with Microsoft because he has intimate knowledge of Microsoft's operations in China, its competitive strategy against Google and recruiting efforts. "Dr. Lee should live up to his promise," said Johnson. Microsoft played video depositions of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and other executives detailing Lee's involvement in planning China-related strategies and businesses. Microsoft and Google are increasingly becoming the technology industry's most visible competitors, as they face off in the Web search arena and seek to hire top software engineering talent. Google said that Lee decided to leave Microsoft and work for Google to head up their China operations because he was frustrated with Microsoft's lack of action and commitment in China. "He tried, but they (Microsoft executives) were completely uninterested in what he had to say about China," said Steve Langdon, a Google spokesman. The hearing, which will last another day, is the latest move by the Redmond, Washington-based software giant to stop Lee from working at Google while he is still obligated by the one-year non-compete agreement, which went into effect when Lee quit Microsoft in mid-July. Microsoft won a temporary restraining order against Lee and Google in July. Google, based in Mountain View, California counter-sued in its home state last month to block Microsoft's lawsuit. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Alexa Olesen Subject: Group Claims Yahoo Helped China Jail Journalist Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 10:28:47 -0500 By ALEXA OLESEN, Associated Press Writer A French media watchdog said Tuesday that information provided by Internet powerhouse Yahoo Inc. helped Chinese authorities convict and jail a journalist who had written an e-mail about press restrictions. The criticism from Reporters Without Borders marks the latest instance in which a prominent high-tech company has faced accusations of cooperating with Chinese authorities to gain favor in a country that's expected to become an Internet gold mine. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo and two of its biggest rivals, Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN, previously have come under attack for censoring online news sites and Web logs, or blogs, that include content that China's communist government wants to suppress. Reporters Without Borders ridiculed Yahoo, saying it was becoming even cozier with the Chinese government by allowing itself to become a police informant in a case that led to the recent conviction of Chinese journalist Shi Tao. "Does the fact that this corporation operates under Chinese law free it from all ethical considerations?" Reporters Without Borders said in a statement. "How far will it go to please Beijing?" Pauline Wong, head of marketing for the Hong Kong office, said Wednesday that the company had no comment on the statement. "We're still looking at it," Wong said. Reporters Without Borders said court papers showed that Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. gave Chinese investigators information that helped them trace a personal Yahoo e-mail allegedly containing state secrets to Tao's computer. Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. is part of Yahoo's global network. Shi, a former journalist for the financial publication Contemporary Business News, was sentenced in April to 10 years in prison for illegally providing state secrets to foreigners. Reporters Without Borders described Shi as a "good journalist who has paid dearly for trying to get the news out." His conviction stemmed from an e-mail he sent containing his notes on a government circular that spelled out restrictions on the media. "This probably would not have been possible without the cooperation of Yahoo," said Lucie Morillon, a Washington, D.C.-based spokeswoman for Reporters Without Borders. Shi's arrest in November at his home in the northwestern province of Shanxi prompted appeals for his release by activists, including the international writers group PEN. A number of Chinese journalists have faced similar charges of violating vague security laws as communist leaders struggle to maintain control of information in the burgeoning Internet era. Yahoo and its major rivals have been expanding their presence in China in hopes of reaching more of the country's population as the Internet becomes more ingrained in their daily lives. Just last month, Yahoo paid $1 billion for a 40 percent stake in China's biggest online commerce firm, Alibaba.com. Meanwhile, Google and Microsoft are locked in a bitter legal battle over a former Microsoft engineer who Google hired in July to oversee the opening of a research center in China. AP Business Writer Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this story. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Listen to Associated Press News Radio at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html Get aquainted with Telecom Digest Extra at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra ------------------------------ From: Reuters NewsWire Subject: Katrina Children Seeking Parents Shown on Web Site Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 10:20:12 -0500 Photos of children separated from their parents by Hurricane Katrina have been posted on a Web site by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in an attempt to reunite families. Photos of more than two dozen children found in Louisiana were posted on the organization's Web site (http://www.missingkids.com/), together with sometimes scanty information available about them. There was also an entry for one child without a picture. One entry about a little boy apparently too small to speak properly reads: "His name may be Neiamaya or Jeremiah. His date of birth is unknown; however, he is believed to be about 2 years old." A five-month-old baby, named Jordan Barnes, was also among the children. He was transferred from a hospital in New Orleans to Baton Rouge General Hospital due to Katrina but his mother's whereabouts were unknown. For those unable to access Internet in areas where Katrina knocked out electricity, the center has set up a telephone hotline (888-544-5475) for families separated during the hurricane which hit last Monday and in the flooding and chaos which followed. The center has also posted information about missing children and adults in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. Several of the photos have been stamped "resolved," and the center's president, Ernie Allen, told CNN that workers, in cooperation with other agencies, has already been able to find mothers of children held in a shelter in San Antonio, Texas. Thousands of people may have been killed by Katrina and its aftermath when flood barriers protecting New Orleans from an adjacent lake burst and hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: R. W. Bytheway, Jr. Subject: Unwanted Calls Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 11:33:39 -0500 I too have received the 215 area code number on my cell phone. I Googled and found your site. Will the *67 work with callers who have their numbers blocked and those calls that show up as UnKnown? Someone used to have the home number I currently have and I'm getting call after call and telling these idiots to Google my number and see that I'm not who they want does no good. Most of them seem to have never heard of Google in the first place. One number listed as UnKnown or Private keeps calling and the caller is abusive to me and I have no way of knowing how to report them. Will the blocking of UnKnown or Private showing up on the caller ID work? Thanks for your great site. Bob [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: *67 is intended to _deliberatly_ block the calling party's number. On your caller ID display it will usually shown either 'private' or 'withheld' but not often 'unknown'. Two ways to avoid that type of call: *77 is known as 'blocked ID blocker'. People who _deliberatly_ block their caller ID -- even if due to telephone company shortcomings the number would not be available anyway -- can be dodged by using *77 (by itself, just dial that into your phone, wait for a response, then disconnect). In the future, callers who dial *67 before the number will be told 'party does not accept blocked ID calls; please hang up, make your number available, and dial again.' The second method is by subscribing through your telco to *60, which allows a repertoire of up to ten numbers _you never ever want to hear from_. Dialing *60 -- once you have subscribed -- gets you a recorded message of instructions on what to do. To summarize those instructions, you can either dial in the ten digit fully qualified number _or_ you can add 'the last call recieved, whether or not the number is known_. In that case, the system will not tell you the number being added -- since _that_ person also has privacy expectations -- but it will tell you that a 'private entry has been added to your list'. Later on, you are permitted to delete (from your list) any of the fully qualified numbers you originally had blacklisted or you can delete the entire batch of 'private entries'. If you use *60 and wish to add numbers to your personal Do Not Disturb list, after you enter the number to be added, the system goes away for a few seconds; it has to 'ping' that number to be assured that it is a good number. First time around at least, when using *60 be sure to listen completely to the instructions given. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joseph Subject: Mark Cuccia From New Orleans is Safe Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 06:12:41 -0700 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com This may be of interest to folks on CDT/Telecom Digest: > From a yahoo list: To all list members concerned about Mark Cuccia: Mark Cuccia is safe and sound. Mark called me at 8 AM this morning (Wednesday). His apartment did not get flooded and he is fine. Today has been the first day that he has been able to get a cell signal since the hurricane and subsequent flood. He is still without electrical power. However, please do not call Mark right now, as he is saving battery power on his cell phone and reception is still spotty. He plans on leaving New Orleans to stay at his aunt in New Iberia, LA. He said he will call me when he reaches his aunt's house. If he is still not able to send out a message, I'll send a message at that time that he has made it out of New Orleans. Please let others know that he is safe and sound. Dave Perrussel Webmaster - Telephone World http://www.dmine.com/phworld ------------------------------ From: totojepast@razdva.cz Subject: OpenWengo: Open Source Alternative for Skype? Date: 7 Sep 2005 08:37:26 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com OpenWengo: Open Source Alternative for Skype? http://slashdot.org/articles/05/09/06/1345209.shtml?tid=185 and also http://dev.openwengo.com/trac/openwengo/trac.cgi/wiki/WengoPhoneNG ------------------------------ From: totojepast@razdva.cz Subject: Google Talk Using Supernodes for VoIP? Date: 7 Sep 2005 08:38:26 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com http://james.seng.sg/archives/2005/08/25/more_about_google_talk.html " ...I found out that the STUN server specified does not belong to Google -- the IP address belongs to someone in Taiwan, likely another Google Talk user. Further investigation shows that Google Talk apparently comes with a STUN server. In other words, like Skype, Google Talk turns every client into a possible server to help relay voice call between two users ... " ------------------------------ From: ozkan_aziz@hotmail.com Subject: Force Group in IP Office Date: 7 Sep 2005 08:44:43 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have an Avaya IP Office. I have users in a overflow group but the users keep pressing the 'group' button on the handset taking the phone out of the group. Is there a way to force users to remain in group and disable the group button on the handset. Thanks in advance for any help! Oz ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Bob Denver as Maynard Date: 6 Sep 2005 13:47:25 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I was sorry to read that actor Bob Denver passed away. It surprised me because from TV I think of him as a kid, not an older fellow. His most famous role that everyone talks about was as Gilligan, in Gilligan's Island. But I remember him more from his prior role as a beatnik, Maynard G Krebs, in "Dobie Gillis". Dobie Gillis was an early 1960s show about an average teenage boy trying to get along with his friends, parents, school, girls, etc. I enjoyed it when I was very young. It was on reruns, but I haven't seen it in a while. I do remember it as being a cut above the silly humor of most TV shows -- a little more thoughtful, a little more intellectual, jokes that were a little less obvious. I remember the parents as being definitely NOT the typical Cleaver/Nelson TV parents of that era -- the father, trying to run his grocery store, was always hollering at Dobie for something or another. I liked shows that had that as they seemed to be more realistic. (Ward Cleaver, for all his mildness, made me terrible nervous, and he was someone I wouldn't want to visit.) Mr. Denver, as Maynard, was kind of a comedy relief, and wasn't too central to the plots. But it was nice seeing an anti-establishment figure, esp way back then -- he'd wear torn sweatshirts and had a scruffy little beard -- and issue poetic philosophical observations that may or may not made sense. [public replies, please] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 07:38:01 -0700 Subject: Telecom Update's New Sponsors From: Angus TeleManagement Group Reply-To: Angus TeleManagement Group ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Dear Telecom Update reader: As you know, there is no charge for subscribing to Telecom Update. That's only possible because it is supported by leading telecommunications companies that understand your need for up-to-date, unbiased news on this fast-changing industry. We are very pleased to announce that the following companies have agreed to sponsor Telecom Update in 2005-2006. Avaya: www.avaya.ca/en/ Bell Canada: www.bell.ca Cisco Systems Canada: www.cisco.com/ca/ Ericsson: www.ericsson.ca Mitel Networks: www.mitel.com/ NEC Unified Solutions: www.necunifiedsolutions.com Rogers Telecom: www.rogers.com/solutions Vonage Telecom: www.vonage.ca Please join us in extending them sincere thanks: their generous support will make it possible for us to continue delivering Canadian telecom news to you every week in the coming year. Ian & Lis Angus Telecom Update, now in its eleventh year, is a weekly summary of Canadian telecom news. Our sponsors make it possible for us to produce and distribute it without charge. Telecom Update's content is solely the responsibility of Angus TeleManagement Group. The current issue, and all past issues, can be found at Angus TeleManagement Group's Web site: www.angustel.ca. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: _Telecom Update_ is the 'Canadian version' essentially of TELECOM Digest. There is no affiliation between us except that this Digest syndicates news each week from the 'Canadian version' and Angus frequently uses our material as it applies to Canada. He uses 'USA news' as well, when it has specific application to Canada. His archives are at the location mentioned above, while ours are at http://telecom-digest.org/archives . PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism? Date: 6 Sep 2005 13:16:14 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Joseph wrote: > Maybe you're having problems being convinced since you're well off > enough to have a vehicle to take you where you need to go. Many > people in the area are poor and probably had no way to move themselves > and their families out of there. I'm not sure why you're assuming > that there are enough cars in New Orleans to evacuate everyone. To me, the logistics of the evacuation should've been first considered by local officials, then help requested from the Feds if facilities were inadequate. That is, the local politicians should know their own community best as to transport options -- who can get out on their own, who will need help, who won't want to go. (I remain wondering if many people remained by choice.) Anyway, the local government would then line up transit and school buses, something they as local leaders would be more familiar with and have the authority to commandeer. They would know the neighborhoods best to arrange the best staging points (using logical central points instead of just points taken from a map.) John Hines wrote: > I have concerns with Bush's personal response to this disaster, which > threatened thousands, as well as a third of our energy supply (from > the gulf), when it is compared to his response to the single life of > Terry Schavio. I very much disagreed with his involvement with the Schavio situation. But that is irrelevent here. That's one of the things that bothers me. The federal response to New Orleans should be looked at only in terms of other disasters, not other Federal projects or policies. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects Date: 6 Sep 2005 14:01:06 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Serrano & Gaouette wrote: > WASHINGTON - For years, Washington had been warned that doom lurked > just beyond the levees. And for years, the White House and Congress > had dickered over how much money to put into shoring up century-old > dikes and carrying out newer flood control projects to protect the > city of New Orleans. There are a great many projects throughout the United States that are 'critical' but are 'underfunded'. The Federal Government does not have an unlimited well and can't pay for everything everybody wants. It must be remembered that many people strongly disagree on what projects are actually "critical" as well as what constitutes "underfunding". Let's take an example close to home: If it were up to me, every Telecommunications service provider or manufacturer would have regular on-site audits by both technical and financial inspectors by the FCC to ensure their system is reliable, won't screw up other people, meets high standards of performance, and isn't a sham -- the kind of oversight to prevent a Norvergence. But I can't help but suspect a lot of people in that business, especially smaller ones, would feel that's a waste of money and would not appreciate FCC inspectors nosing about their business asking tough questions and demanding answers. In other newsgroups, there was considerable debate concerning if in fact the levees were underfunded or who was responsible for what. Anyway, every state has a backlog of critical bridge and highway construction and lots of other needs. In my state, the Feds proposed a flood control project that the locals shot down. Years later, we got very serious flooding that that project could've prevented, and now it's up for discussion again. So, people can't even agree on what desirable infrastructure is. In New Orleans, they're arguing about wetland areas, for example. I also note that some newspaper columnists pulled the race card, claiming more might have been done had New Orleans been a more affluent or Bush supporting area instead of poor and black. Yet other states get floods in very wealthy areas where million dollar homes are washed out. So much for that theory. Serrano & Gaouette further wrote: > To cut spending, officials gambled that the worst-case scenario > would not come to be. The reality is that this kind of gamble is done every day in every city across the country. There simply is not enough resources to do everything everyone wants done. First off, not everyone agrees on criticiality of every project. Some projects may hurt other people who object to them (a flood control project was nixed because of that). Not everyone agrees on the amount of funding necessary. Secondly, there are many infrastructure needs that could called inadequate. Roads, highways, hospitals. We do the best we can. As an example close to home, I would be in favor of beefing up the FCC with technical and financial inspectors who would rigorously check all telecom providers (service and equipment) to ensure they meet rigorous standards. Let's prevent another Norvergence. I'd dare say a lot of people in that business would resent such severe demands and time requirements to fulfill those audits. Who would be right? As you can see, there is no "right" or "wrong" answer when it comes to spending money or taking Federal action. By the way, The New York Times had a columnist, Tierney, blame the local officials for the failure: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/06/opinion/06tierney.html He noted the Norfolk VA area has locally prepared flood plans and the like which New Orleans didn't have. ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: You Can't Foil These Parking Meters/Technology Makes it Easier Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 23:49:36 -0400 This article made me remember an experience I had when I was working with SkyTel. I was on a business trip to Colorado. First we ran all over Denver optimizing the SkyTel paging system. Then we went out to Vail and Aspen to work on the systems there. I can't now remember if this happened in Aspen or in Vail. But it was one of them. They had non-metered forty-five minute parking zones. They 'chalked' you as described in the article, an officer came by and typed your tag number into his wireless terminal. It was time stamped into the computer. So, when another officer comes back by and types it in again and you are over the time limit, the wireless terminal printed you out a parking ticket. We had parked our rental vehicle in a forty-five minute zone. I neglected to notice what time we actually parked. We didn't expect to be there for more than a few minutes. But there was a problem with the equipment on the site and we had to stay to get it fixed. When we returned to the vehicle, there was a parking ticket on it. When I looked at the chalk time versus the time the ticket was issued, the difference of the times was only thirty-eight minutes. I called the parking ticket supervisor at the town hall, gave him the ticket number so he could pull it up in the system, and asked him to explain that one to me. I pointed out that the sign said forty-five minutes. He was reluctant, but he deleted the ticket from the system and told us not to worry about paying it. So much for modern technology. Fewer challenges, huh? Fred ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V24 #407 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Sep 7 18:33:03 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 49BF614D0F; Wed, 7 Sep 2005 18:33:03 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #408 Message-Id: <20050907223303.49BF614D0F@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 18:33:03 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.1 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, NO_COST autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Wed, 7 Sep 2005 18:30:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 408 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 5000 Nokia Phones Seized at St. Petersburg, Russia Port (Dow Jones) Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire For Security Reasons (Reuters) Report Sees Global IPTV Boom (USTelecom dailyLead) Motorola and Apple Launch First Mobile Phone With ROCKR (Monty Solomon) Comments by CBS TV President (Lisa Hancock) Re: Mark Cuccia From New Orleans is Safe (Paul Coxwell) Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism (Dale Neiburg) Re: Microsoft, Google Face Off in Court (Danny Burstein) Re: Unwanted Calls (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Unwanted Calls (Lisa Hancock) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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: Dow Jones News Wire Subject: 5000 Nokia Phones Seized at St. Petersburg, Russia Port Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 16:05:25 -0500 MOSCOW -(Dow Jones)- A consignment of smuggled Nokia mobile phones was seized in St. Petersburg at the end of last week, the Vedomosti daily said Tuesday, citing customs officials. The paper quoted Alexander Yablokov, a spokesman for the Baltiiskaya Customs House, as saying the phones, whose value he put at EUR600,000, arrived without the necessary customs documents. The seizure follows the arrest of several large consignments of contraband phones in Moscow in August and comes as part of an ongoing operation by Russian law enforcement agencies, it added. Newspaper Web site: http://www.vedomosti.ru -By Moscow Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 095 974 8055=20 (END) Dow Jones Newswires Read this article on the web at: www.cellular-news.com/story/13970.php NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, DowJones News Wire, Moscow Bureau. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Panarat Thepgumpanat Subject: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 10:23:20 -0500 By Panarat Thepgumpanat Asian governments have expressed security concerns about easy access to detailed satellite images on the Internet, such as those used by rescuers in New Orleans, saying the technology could endanger sensitive sites. Thailand and South Korea were the most vocal critics of the search tool on Wednesday, rounding on providers like U.S.-based Google Inc, which runs the Web site www.earth.google.com, and demanding action from Washington. "We are looking for possible restrictions on these detailed pictures, especially state buildings," the Thai Armed Forces spokesman, Major-General Weerasak Manee-in, told Reuters. "I think pictures of tourist attractions should do." Satellite images provided by Google have been widely used by broadcasters to show the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. Such technology has also been used by authorities coordinating rescue and relief operations in the devastated area. Google calls the tool "a 3D interface to the planet." Any Internet user can zoom in and out of scores of cities around the world, zeroing in on locations right down to street level. The Thai military will discuss the technology with telecommunications and security agencies before approaching Google and other companies that provide similar services, Weerasak said. A spokeswoman for Google in Japan declined comment. South Korean government officials have said they will contact officials in Washington to express their security concerns about the Google Earth product. Among the buildings that can be seen on Google Earth, with a high-resolution package, are the South Korean president's residence, military bases and the defense security command. The government restricts information about the location of these facilities and their construction. South Korea is technically still at war with its northern neighbor and armed North Korean agents have tried to infiltrate the area around the presidential Blue House. TECHNOLOGY UNSTOPPABLE Sri Lanka's military spokesman, Brigadier Daya Ratnayake, said it was a serious concern if anyone could get detailed images of sensitive installations and buildings. "But this is a new trend, we will first have to see whether, in this day and age, if this a considerable threat to national security." "In this era of technology -- you have to live with the fact that almost everything is on the Internet -- from bomb-making instructions to assembling aircraft. So it's something the military has to learn to live with and adapt," Ratnayake said. A security official in India said the issue of satellite imagery had been discussed at the highest level but the government had concluded that "technology cannot be stopped." "We are aware that there are Web sites which give detailed pictures of buildings like the president's house including every tree in the compound. Our security agencies are aware of this but how can we stop technology?" said the official, who asked not to be named. The Australian Department of Defense said it was taking "appropriate measures to manage the threat" posed by such technology. It did not elaborate. But the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO), which operates the nation's only nuclear reactor -- a research facility at Lucas Heights in Sydney -- said the current images on Google posed no security risk. "Although buildings are clearly visible, critical infrastructure is not. The photographs are over two years old," ANSTO has said in a statement. In Tokyo, an official in charge of crisis management at Japan's Cabinet Secretariat was unaware of the service and declined further comment. (Additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Seoul, Masayuki Kitano in Tokyo, Michelle Nichols in Canberra, Palash Kumar in New Delhi, Arjuna Wickramasinghe in Colombo) Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 13:40:17 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Report Sees Global IPTV Boom USTelecom dailyLead September 7, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24415&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Report sees global IPTV boom BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Motorola iTunes phone announcement expected today * Free Wi-Fi while you ride in Seattle * HP, Macromedia offer telecom tools * Buckeye offers VoIP * Demand for satellite phones soars * J.D. Power reports wireless customer satisfaction ratings USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * SIP Demystified Now Available in the Telecom Bookstore EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Irish telco offers wireless VoIP REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * FCC may call on WISPs to offer VoIP * Red Cross wins permission to use 1-800-RED-CROSS * High court nominee leaves little paper trail on tech Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24415&l=2017006 Legal and Privacy information at http://www.dailylead.com/about/privacy_legal.jsp SmartBrief, Inc. 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20005 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 14:18:56 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola and Apple Launch World's First Mobile Phone With iTunes Motorola ROKR Available to Consumers Throughout Europe, North America, North Asia and Southeast Asia SCHAUMBURG, Ill. and CUPERTINO, Calif., Sept. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) and Apple today announced the availability of the world's first mobile phone with iTunes, enabling music lovers to transfer up to 100 of their favorite songs from the iTunes jukebox on their Mac or PC to their mobile phone*. The Motorola ROKR features easy-to-use menus, simple navigation and playback, and the ability to simply switch from listening to music to talking on the phone and back again with the push of a dedicated music key. The new Motorola ROKR (pronounced "Rocker") is available in the following markets: -- U.S. - today, exclusively with Cingular -- U.K. - available first with Carphone Warehouse, expected in mid-September and then with O2, followed by Orange, Virgin Mobile, BT Mobile and other top retailers through September and October -- France - expected to be available by late September through key retailers. -- Italy - expected to be available by late September through expected to be available through distributor and operator channels in 2H 05. -- Canada - expected to be available in mid- to late-September with Rogers Wireless. -- Hong Kong - expected to be available by late September through multiple retail outlets and operator channels. -- Australia, Singapore and the Philippines - expected to be available late September through early October through retail and operator channels. -- Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and other markets throughout the world - expected to be available in the fourth quarter. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51630324 Also see: SAN FRANCISCO, SCHAUMBURG, Ill. and ATLANTA, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire- FirstCall/ -- Apple(R), Motorola and Cingular Wireless today announced the availability of the world's first mobile phone with iTunes(R), enabling music lovers to transfer up to 100 of their favorite songs from the iTunes jukebox on their Mac(R) or PC to their mobile phone. Apple's iTunes software on the Motorola ROKR features easy to use menus, simple navigation and playback, and the ability to simply switch from phone to music and back again with the push of a dedicated music key. The new Motorola ROKR is available today at www.cingular.com and will be sold exclusively in all Cingular retail locations beginning tomorrow. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51629967 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Comments by CBS TV President Date: 7 Sep 2005 10:30:51 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com The New York Times Magazine has a writeup on the new president of CBS. In it he says: [The president of CBS] had decided to take a once-promising show called 'Joan of Arcadia' off the air. The show was about a teenager who receives directives and advice straight from God. "In the beginning, it was a fresh idea and uplifting, and the plot lines were engaging," Moonves said, sounding a little sad and frustrated. "But the show got too dark. I understand why creative people like dark, but American audiences don't like dark. They like story. They do not respond to nervous breakdowns and unhappy episodes that lead nowhere. They like their characters to be a part of the action. They like strength, not weakness, a chance to work out any dilemma. This is a country built on optimism." See: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/magazine/04MOONVES.html I thought he made a good point. I watched that show and liked it in the first season, but it did get too dark and complex in the second season. The article discusses the possible breakup of Viacom into smaller, more specialized companies. Another good idea. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 23:07:48 +0100 From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: Mark Cuccia From New Orleans is Safe > This may be of interest to folks on CDT/Telecom Digest: > From a yahoo list: > To all list members concerned about Mark Cuccia: > Mark Cuccia is safe and sound. Mark called me at 8 AM this morning > (Wednesday). His apartment did not get flooded and he is fine. Great to hear Mark is safe. -Paul. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Flood Relief Efforts - Unfair Criticism Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 16:32:12 -0400 From: Dale Neiburg In v. 24, #407, Lisa Hancock wrote (apropos of New Orleans): > I also note that some newspaper columnists pulled the race card, > claiming more might have been done had New Orleans been a more > affluent or Bush supporting area instead of poor and black. Yet other > states get floods in very wealthy areas where million dollar homes are > washed out. So much for that theory. Well, yes, of course they do: hurricanes are equal-opportunity disasters. The point being made was that the *response* is quite different. Note that, even in the case of Katrina, President Bush promised to see that Trent Lott's house is rebuilt. --Dale Neiburg ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Re: Microsoft, Google Face Off in Court Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 20:46:25 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Reuters News Wire writes: > Attorneys for Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. faced off in court on > Tuesday over whether an executive familiar with the world's largest > software maker's plans in China could begin working for the search > engine leader. [ snip ] We saw the same silliness with Sprint and (some other company whose name escapes me) about two years ago, where they had filed lawsuits back and forth to prevent somone from moving over. I'm just flabbergasted that companies really believe that their entire future fate is so dependent on single individuals. What'll they do in the case of, oh, an auto accident, or a heart attack ...> Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 17:09:07 EDT Subject: Re: Unwanted Calls In a message dated Wed, 7 Sep 2005 11:33:39 -0500, R. W. Bytheway, Jr. : > I too have received the 215 area code number on my cell phone. I > Googled and found your site. Will the *67 work with callers who have > their numbers blocked and those calls that show up as UnKnown? > Someone used to have the home number I currently have and I'm getting > call after call and telling these idiots to Google my number and see > that I'm not who they want does no good. Most of them seem to have > never heard of Google in the first place. One number listed as > UnKnown or Private keeps calling and the caller is abusive to me and I > have no way of knowing how to report them. Will the blocking of > UnKnown or Private showing up on the caller ID work? > Thanks for your great site. > Bob A graphic in USA Today either yesterday or today showed that only 66 per cent of adults use a computer. I have seen other reports that of those who use a computer many do not have an Internet connection and of those who do many use it infrequently. So many, perhaps a majority, of people never have heard of Google or know what it means or is used for. You might as well be speaking Greek to them. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: Lisa Hancock Subject: Re: Unwanted Calls Date: 7 Sep 2005 13:01:07 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com R. wrote: > I too have received the 215 area code number on my cell phone. I > Googled and found your site. Will the *67 work with callers who have > their numbers blocked and those calls that show up as UnKnown? No. > Someone used to have the home number I currently have and I'm getting > call after call ... You probably should demand a new phone number at no charge. I had that problem years ago upon receiving a new phone (receiving obscene calls late at night on the first night I got the line) and the phone co, after some pressure from me, changed the number. This is especially important on a cell phone where you have limited minutes and must pay as you go. I can see this being a big problem on cell phones as people are more likely to "dispose" of them than their home landline phone. For example, a father might pull the plug on a teenager's line for a while. That means the numbers will get used much more frequently. I would not want a cell phone number previously assigned to a teenager. [Ohmygawd that would be, like, SO weird, you know, to have this old guy answering your cell phone, you know? Like my friend Jennifer? She is SUCH a flirt and she, like, would REALLY flirt with guys she doesn't even know who call her, like, what is that girl thinking? And at Lindsay's party she threw such a fit because Lindsay was using Jeremy's cell phone and YOU KNOW Jennifer really likes Jeremy but just won't show it because Jeremy isn't cool enough for her and she goes out with Trevor instead even though Trevor is really mean to her and cheats on her ALL THE TIME and she's so stupid she doesn't even see it right in front of her, like when Trevor was making out with Morgan -- I swear this is true -- at Amanda's house right in the living room in front of everybody, Morgan has like no shame and is the WORST slut in school, worse even than Jennifer's older sister, remember her, she got sent home for wearing her blouse too tight and her parents came back and, like, yelled at Mr. Green the principal to mind his own business and then he got REALLY mad told them she was three months pregnant which was supposed to be a big secret but everybody knew it ...] Since you are getting many calls for an old number it wouldn't pay to track each one down. In some cases old numbers are reassigned too quickly. One way to avoid that problem is to request a number in a new exchange, or better still, a new area code which your area might have. If you are getting repeated abusive anonymous calls, there is Call Trace. *57 (1157 for rotary users). This cannot be blocked. The phone company gets the number in a special unit. You may have to pay a fee for this. For repeated abuse calls, the phone company or police will deal with it. Pat mentioned some other *dial options to screen calls, but note usage varies in some areas and there may be a fee to use them. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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'. 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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. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ 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. 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 V24 #408 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Sep 8 02:00:29 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id DB19914FFF; Thu, 8 Sep 2005 02:00:28 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #409 Message-Id: <20050908060028.DB19914FFF@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 02:00:28 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 8 Sep 2005 02:00:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 409 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson GEICO, Google Settle Lawsuit (Eric Auchard) Cell Phones Combined With VOIP (Ben Charny) Pre-teen Cell Phone Adoption (Marcus Didius Falco) Laptops Turn on, Tune In to Seattle Metro's New Wi-Fi (John Stahl) CAS Tone Detection Method (jia) Windows DRM Consultant Needed For 12+ Month Position Atlanta (Bob) Re: Bob Denver as Maynard (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: You Can't Foil These Parking Meters (Gordon S. Hlavenka) Re: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy (Al Gillis) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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: Eric Auchard Subject: GEICO, Google Settle Lawsuit Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 23:56:43 -0500 By Eric Auchard Google Inc. and auto insurer GEICO have resolved a trademark infringement challenge filed by GEICO against Google over its online advertising practices, the auto insurer said on Wednesday. GEICO, the No. 4 U.S. auto insurer and a unit of investor Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said a suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia was "resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties." The lawsuit, originally filed in May 2004, had sought to hold Google responsible for trademark infringement for displaying advertising paid for by rival insurers when computer users searched for the word "GEICO" on the Google system. The complaint could have effectively derailed a basic way Google sells online advertising, by linking keyword searches to ads. This is the source of virtually all of Google's revenues. Rival Yahoo Inc. relies on a similar keyword technique for roughly half of its advertising revenue. "Terms of the settlement, although not disclosed, would suggest some sort of payment was made, but that a trial has been avoided," Martin Pyykkonen, an analyst with brokerage Hoefer & Arnett. "This mitigates the risk of further trademark lawsuits," he said. He rates Google stock a "buy" and says it can hit $350 over time, a gain of 20 percent from current levels. Late last year, a U.S. judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to bar Google from using the technique. Terms of the settlement are confidential, GEICO said. No further comment on the settlement will be provided, it said. Google spokesman Mike Mayzel confirmed the two companies had resolved the dispute, but also decline to provide details. The resolution of the dispute puts off, at least for now, the threat of a major battle pitting the intellectual property rights of a trademark like GEICO against the free speech rights of Google to create new forms of advertising, Pyykkonen said. GEICO, or Government Employees Insurance Co., is the fourth-largest private passenger auto insurer in the United States, covering more than 6 million policyholders. Google users who search for the word "GEICO" on the main search results page are returned a set of results that include sponsored links alongside the main Web search results. Three lesser rivals are featured next to a link to GEICO currently. Google shares were up 35 cents in after-hours trading at $288.80 following the GEICO announcement. The stock had closed $2.20 higher in regular session trading on Nasdaq at $288.45. Berkshire Hathaway shares were unchanged in after-hours trading from their New York Stock Exchange close at $84,100. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Ben Charny Subject: Cell Phones Combined With VOIP Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 23:58:58 -0500 By Ben Charny URL: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-5759701.html=20 Jayson Jepson pays 29 cents a minute to call London on his cell phone. Wouldn't it be great, the founder of Mint Telecom asks rhetorically, if it were more like 2 cents a minute? Now it is, courtesy of Mint and a growing corporate coterie selling cell phone versions of voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) software, which is used to transform Internet connections into inexpensive home or office phone lines. Mint began offering a $7-a-month cell phone service two weeks ago. Skype, Vonage, IP Drum and other operators using VoIP software have caused tectonic shifts in the traditional phone-service industry. Now these same interests are dialing into cell phones, primarily because a growing number have high-speed Internet connections rivaling the performance of broadband operators, whether it's over a third-generation cell phone network or based on Wi-Fi wireless connectivity. A speedy connection is very important to VoIP, in which calls travel on the Internet just like e-mails and instant messages. Because VoIP is intended for voice communication, it is relatively unforgiving of Internet connections afflicted by sluggishness or clipped or dropped signals. Consumers, of course, must weigh the cost of VoIP cell phone access against the savings they might derive from standard VoIP. Cell phone subscribers, after all, already pay a monthly fee for cell phone service. So why would they pay a company like Mint $7 a month extra, plus a per-minute fee, to make a call on the same phone? Jepson argues that the savings for customers using VoIP services are significant enough to make it worthwhile to buy cell phone access over VoIP. "You could ask the same question for VoIP in general," he wrote in an e-mail to CNET News.com. "It's $24.95 for an unlimited calling plus $20 to $40 a month for broadband just to save a few cents?" Most cell phone VoIP software comes from start-ups such as IP Drum, which is based in Norway. It's a product that enables cell phones to use Skype, arguably the world's most popular Internet telephony provider. But VoIP giants Skype and Edison, N.J.-based Vonage say they also have ambitions to develop software for cell phone access. "It's an area we're committed to," said Skype spokeswoman Kelly Larabee. On Monday, Santa Barbara, Calif.-based CallWave will reveal a new wrinkle in its lineup of VoIP-related cell phone services, including a unique call screening feature. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, ZDNet, For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 08 Sep 2005 00:02:39 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Pre-Teen Cell Phone Adoption http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20050906/tc_usatoday/cellphonemarketerscallingallpreteens Cell phone marketers calling all preteens By Laura Petrecca, USA TODAY Tue Sep 6, 8:59 AM ET Forget the Barbie Dream House. Today's 9-year-old wants her own cell phone -- and Mattel will be happy to provide one. The toymaker is one of many companies vying to connect with the preteen and younger market through mobile phones, services and accessories. The goal is not just to tap new revenue - it's also to establish brand loyalty early. Some parents welcome the appearance of kid-friendly cell phones, while some critics worry that easy-to-influence preteens will be exposed to a barrage of marketing messages. About 16 million teens and younger kids have cell phones, with the bulk of them older teens, according to the researcher GFK's NOP World Technology. But as the teen market gets saturated, cell providers and other companies are eyeing the younger set. In February 2002, 13% of 12-to-14-year-olds had cell phones. That number jumped to 40% in December 2004, according to NOP. Some 14% of 10-to-11-year-olds now own cell phones. While NOP doesn't have comparison data for that group yet, Vice President Ben Rogers says its ownership is rising. Even kids under 10 are using personal cells to call for rides home. "We're seeing cell phone growth from ages 8 and 9 on," says technology analyst Rob Enderle. Mattel licensed its "My Scene" brand name, which focuses on preteens, to Single Touch Interactive. This month, they'll sell a full-service $79.99 cell phone with prepaid minutes priced at 25 cents each. Next year, Walt Disney launches Disney Mobile service through Sprint. It is designed for families with kids as young as 10. Some companies are aiming even younger. Just in time for the new school year, educational tech company LeapFrog and wireless firm Enfora are launching the $99.99 TicTalk phone for children ages 6 and older. Courtesy Firefly Mobile Inc.Firefly Mobile's phone is geared to kids ages 8 to 12. Firefly Mobile has a simple $99.99 phone with five "speed-dial" buttons for "mobile kids." Many parents are buying in. Gaithersburg, Md., mom Phyllis Corrao just got her 10-year-old son, Daniel Mangle, a full-service Nextel phone so she can stay in touch when he's at school. Eric Webber of Austin says he's about to cave in and buy his 11-year-old son, Jake, one. "I have the cell phone debate every day," says Webber, adding that his son has worn him down. When parents put phones in kids' hands, they're likely creating a lifelong cell phone customer, say experts. That gives both the service providers -- such as Sprint or Verizon -- as well as brands with names on the handsets -- such as Mattel's "My Scene" -- access to new customers and sets the stage for future sales. "Once you give it to them, you can't take it away," Rogers says. He adds that as kids get older and are exposed to more advanced phones, "Parents are going to experience a lot of pressure to upgrade." He says the simpler phones, such as the Firefly, are seeding the way for future growth. "There is a role for those limited phones to get people in young and then drive intake of fully functional phones at a younger age," Rogers says. In addition to paying for upgraded phones, parents and kids are also buying ring tones, cell phone shells and hip carrying cases. Firefly's Web site, for instance, promotes a $12.99 wristlet purse to carry the phone, as well as colorful "bubble gum" and "limeade" exchangeable outer shells for the phone at $12.99 each. That might be just the start. While Disney hasn't disclosed all its plans, some telecom analysts already are speculating about the potential it has to market an array of products through Disney Mobile. Enderle says Disney could sell ring tones that promote its movie characters or include discount coupons to its theme parks with the monthly cell phone bill. That vast marketing potential has some children's advocates worried about exploitation. "It's open season on kids," says Gary Ruskin, executive director of advocacy group Commercial Alert. Ruskin rattles off a range of concerns, from children being exposed to marketing messages on the phone itself (such as Mattel's "My Scene" design) to the potential for kids to be pressured to buy ring tones and accessories. Ruskin says some companies will harness the nag factor -- when a kid harasses a parent for so long, the parent gives in -- to sell their goods. Marketers defend their phone products. Mattel says: "We believe it is ultimately the choice of the parent to decide when his or her child is ready for a cell phone. Research shows that kids are going wireless, and we wanted to provide girls with a communication device that is not only functional and fashionable but that also encourages responsible cell phone use." It appears that more parents are on Mattel's side. Webber, who works in the ad industry, says he sees how marketers can take advantage of kids. His son is already turning ad messages he's heard into arguments for a phone. "He's playing the safety and security card on me, saying, 'Wouldn't you feel safer if I had it?' " Webber says. At this point, Webber is just about sold. Both he and Corrao agree that cell phones can teach their kids about responsibility. Corrao's son, Daniel, does chores to earn the talk time, and Webber says he'll do the same with Jake. Corrao says giving Daniel a phone has paid off in other ways: "He's called to say he loves me." Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Read USA Today on line here each day at: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/othernews.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 18:37:54 -0400 From: John Stahl Subject: Laptops Turn On, Tune In to Seattle Metro's New Wi-Fi Starting today, Seattle bus routes are offering Wi-Fi for FREE on some of their lines. Not only in this period of exorbitant gasoline prices can you "leave the driving to us" (one bus lines logo), but you can doubly save on the commutation. With FREE Wi-Fi service (forget Blackberry's and Verizon costly Broadband services) you can get on the Internet and "work" while you relax on your way to work. I wish more cities would get gutsy and fight the local Teleco incumbent (it seems that they and the cable provider think they "own" connection to the Internet) to put FREE Wi-FI every where (especially on busses with the high cost of fuel) they want. I haven't heard if Philly and other cities have given up their quest and fight to put in these systems. The article: Laptops turn on, tune in to Metro's new Wi-Fi 29 buses on two routes offering wireless Net access By JANE HADLEY SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER (9/7/05) Beginning today, some riders on two Metro bus routes will be able to turn on and tune in their laptops to the Internet using Wi-Fi wireless connections in a five-month trial that could expand to other routes, if successful. By mid-October, all 29 buses that run on .... URL of article: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/239688_buswifi07.html Wish my area in NY had this available. John Stahl Data/Telecom Consultant Aljon Enterprises ------------------------------ From: jia Subject: CAS Tone Detection Method Date: 7 Sep 2005 18:47:05 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi here, If I use detection method of DTMF to do the CAS(CPE Alerting Signal), is it OK? I believe CAS Tone is just a special DTMF Tone with strict requirement. ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: Bob Subject: Windows DRM Consultant Needed For 12 Month Position in Atlanta Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 22:31:04 -0700 Organization: Gbtech Dear Friends, We are in the process of identifying suitable candidates for the below described position. If you are best fit for this position, please respond ASAP by emailing the below requested details to Bob@gbtechinc.com. 1) updated resume as a word document 2) expected all inclusive hourly rate 3) availability 4) work/visa status 5) and contact details. Job Details: Job Title: Windows DRM Consultant Duration: 12+ months Location: Atlanta, GA. Job description: We are looking for an experienced Senior Windows Software Engineer to join us for a 12+ month engagement located in Atlanta, GA. You will be a key member of a dynamic team developing multimedia server and client applications on the Windows platform. You will be a part of all aspects of the software development lifecycle, from design and concept, to testing and maintenance. We are looking for someone experience with Windows Digital Rights Management (DRM). Responsibilities will include: Manage multiple and simultaneous development projects. Create functional and design specifications for new product features. Implement new product features. Diagnose and fix bugs in new and existing code. Act as a technical resource for the Windows platform. Requirements/Prerequisites: Five years experience developing on the Windows platform. Knowledge of object-oriented design principles, including design patterns. Extensive knowledge of C and C++ programming. Extensive knowledge of the Win32 API. Extensive experience with multi-threaded software. Strong analytical and communications skills. Please send resumes ASAP, for an immediate interview. Regards, Bob Harris Sr.Technical Recruiter Global Technologies Inc www.GBTechinc.com Bob@gbtechinc.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 22:04:34 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: Bob Denver as Maynard hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > His most famous role that everyone talks about was as Gilligan, in > Gilligan's Island. But I remember him more from his prior role as a > beatnik, Maynard G Krebs, in "Dobie Gillis". I liked the way Maynard would always recoil in horror whenever he heard the word "work"... Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com If your teacher tells you to Question Authority Should you do it? ------------------------------ From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelex.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: You Can't Foil These Parking Meters/Technology Makes it Easier Date: Thu, 08 Sep 2005 03:21:00 GMT Fred Atkinson wrote: > When we returned to the vehicle, there was a parking ticket on it. > When I looked at the chalk time versus the time the ticket was issued, > the difference of the times was only thirty-eight minutes. Here's a parking meter story from ten or fifteen years ago that I know PAT will enjoy, because it involves one of his favorite topics: Chicago government. The wife and I drove downtown on a Sunday to visit the Field Museum. We were pleasantly surprised when we got there to find ample parking curbside. There were meters, but the meters were placarded "Monday through Saturday, 6am to 10pm" so the parking was even free! We enjoyed our visit to the museum, and when we returned to our car we found we had been ticketed for parking at an expired meter! Fifty bucks! We took a photo of the meter's placard (with the meter number showing). Then we filed an appeal; I forget exactly how it worked but basically you explain in writing why you shouldn't have gotten the ticket and mail it to a special address. Anyway we explained about the "Monday through Saturday" thing, enclosed the photo, and returned to our regularly scheduled lives. Then we got the response. Denied! Reason for denial: "Insufficient evidence" -- what do they want, we should rip up the meter and UPS it to them with a calendar??? "Fortunately" there is a process in place to appeal the appeal; all we had to do was fill out another form and send it in along with a non-refundable $400 check for court costs. Really! So we solved the problem the easy way. We paid the fifty bucks, and we haven't been to the Field Museum since. Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com If your teacher tells you to Question Authority Should you do it? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And I have not been back to Chicago since 2001, (actually not since 1999, but I returned there very briefly in 2001 for a couple months) and do not see any reason to return anytime soon. The whole place is rotten to the core with dirty tricks as you experienced. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 20:31:15 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com wrote in message news:telecom24.393.10@telecom-digest.org... > My local PBS showed clips from old shows. The telephone figured in > some of them. > In one clip, the group got into an argument over the names of the > Seven Dwarfs from Snow White. One man makes a few phone calls to ask > around. He dialed 5 or 6 digits, but spun the dial very quickly, not > letting it properly return. The man then made another call, this time > dialing only three digits. "Long Distance? Get me Walt Disney in > Hollywood!". The man repeatedly emphasizes he's spending $3 on long > distance to find out the info ($3 was maybe $30-$40 today). He gets > Walt Disney on the phone (who didn't know the answer), and mentioned > again he was calling long distance for $3. > The clip was also interesting for the social world it shown. The gang > was headed out for the evening when they got into this argument. They > were hollering at each other, and it reminded me of adults of that > day, which seemed to be hollering at lot more than they do today > (maybe it was only my world). Also, they were all dressed up very > nicely -- men in suits, women in nice dresses. Today people go out to > dinner or a movie in beach clothes; we forget in those days people put > on a necktie or dress quite often when they left the house. > Another clip was a monologue about a night on the town. It starts off > with him calling his girlfriend for a date, and he made exagerated > sounds of dialing, ringing, etc. > Those old shows were done live. When something fouled up -- which > happened often (forgotten lines, prop would fall down -- the actors > had to be quick and improvise to keep the sketch moving. By today's > standards the humor could be a little bland and the jokes very old. > But the shows have a kind of vitality often not seen today. The > comedy groups were a tight-knit team. They also could be funny > without resorting to sex or even politics. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: One of my favorite telephone gags is > when the person _merely pretends_ to call someone, but actually has > his finger holding the hook down while he makes a big production of > dialing then speaking to whomever (only supposedly), and then mid-way > through the supposed conversation with the supposed person, the phone > _actually rings_ with a real call coming in, and of course the > pretender is quite embarassed at being caught in this obvious lie. I > first saw this routine in an old Jack Benny show from the 1930's, then > I saw it again in an "I Love Lucy" show. The third time I saw it was > when John Ritter (in his role as Jack Tripper, on "Three's Company") > got caught in that lie on one of the "Three's Company" shows. Viewers > will recall that poor Jack was always getting in some hassle or > another on that show, and his two female roomates would always have to > rescue him. > The odd part was that on the show where Jack got caught 'with his > finger on the hook while making a call' (because the phone rang), when > it happened, the audience roared with laughter, poor Jack looked very > humiliated as always, but on the 'outakes' (not used in the show but > available on the video of 'outakes' several years later) who should > walk on the set at that moment but Lucille Ball -- not normally on the > show except two or three times as a special guest) and she sternly > said "John, you stole one of my better laughs!" and Ritter replied, > "but my writers got it from the same guy you did, Jack Benny!". Miss > Ball gave him a dirty look and stalked off the stage. The audience > loved it; because the applause for Lucille Ball and the laughter on > account of the joke went on for so long the producers had to cut it > out of the tape entirely. You are correct, Lisa, they could tell jokes > and have funny situations in a clean way on television in years gone > past. PAT] Another bit of early TV crazyness happened with Jackie Gleason and Art Carney. Ralph Cramden (Jackie) had just gotten a new telephone installed in his apartment. Jackie and Alice were both quite proud of this new addition to their cold water, walk up flat. Anyway, Ed Norton (Art) came to the Cramden apartment that evening and asked to use the telephone. Jackie told his pal, "Sure -- go ahead. But remember this costs me money for every call". (Jackie had obviously ordered a measured line). So Ed/Art dials a number, listens for a while and then hangs up. Then he raises his arm and adjusts the time on his wristwatch. Jackie/Ralph goes nuts! He berates his pal for wasting money on a phone call just to find out what time it was! Norton, in his usual response to Ralph's outbursts, grabs his hat off his head and dashes out the door! Maybe I spend to much time in the past, but I miss that old stuff ... no vulgar language, no profanity, no sexual overtones, just funny, funny stuff! Probably so funny as it mirrored us or our friends so closely! Thanks, Pat, for bringing this memory to the surface! Al [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are quite welcome. Did you ever see any of 'The Honeymooners, Color Episodes' (as they were called), a few years following the demise of the original 'Honeymooners' series? Both Jackie Gleason and Art Carney were in it, but different actresses played their wives. For whatever reason, TVLand does not run that series and they (TVLand) only occassionally mentions the original Honeymooners series these days. Do you remember when Jackie Gleason (actually, for real) broke his leg near the end of one of the shows as part of a gag he was doing? Normally, Gleason came out at the end of every show to say goodnight to the audience, but as the final curtain went down, we see him slip and fall; people begin to realize that this time it was _not_ a joke, and instead of Gleason coming out to crack his final joke and say goodnight, someone else came out to do it. Do you also recall how Honeymooners was _originally_ just a fifteen minute segment on Jackie Gleason? In addition to Honeymooners, he had a routine called 'the Poor Soul' and a couple others each week. Eventually though, Honeymooners began getting 30 minutes of the show each week, then finally an hour, except for the June Taylor Dancers who were always the first act. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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) RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308 and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest ************************************************************************* * 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. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ 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. 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 V24 #409 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Sep 8 15:05:40 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id CA15315167; Thu, 8 Sep 2005 15:05:39 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #410 Message-Id: <20050908190539.CA15315167@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 15:05:39 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 8 Sep 2005 15:04:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 410 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson German Thief Nabbed After Online Sale to Victim (Reuters News Wire) Observers Tally Storm Telecom Toll (Mark Sullivan) Cellular-News for Thursday 8th September 2005 (cellular-news) Re: Laptops and Seattle Transit (John L. Shelton) iPod Phone Isn't Perfect, but It's a Start (Monty Solomon) IEC's Broadband World Forum Hosts Cutting-Edge Triple-Play (Lisa Reyes) Texas Alters Franchise Law, Opens Way for Telco (USTelecom dailyLead) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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: Reuters News Wire Subject: German Thief Nabbed After Online Sale to Victim Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 12:24:49 -0500 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Today, I decided to save the best for first ... PAT] A German thief stole a man's in-car navigation system and unwittingly auctioned it online back to his victim, who had police arrest him, authorities said on Wednesday. Police in Berlin said the 26-year-old victim spotted the device on an Internet auction site and quickly re-acquired what he had reported stolen from his car some two weeks previously. He informed police, who went to the thief's house posing as the buyers and then arrested the 21-year-old. "I think the thief got a bit of a surprise," said a Berlin police spokesman, adding the man confessed to the theft. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Although this would have worked as a 'last laugh' feature, I was inspired by the clumsy stupidity of the thief and decided to present it early on in this issue. I am very much reminded of the incident three weeks ago where the 'nice young man' showed up here at my house on one of the hotter, more humid days of this summer asking for a drink of water and a chance to use my bathroom, which I allowed. Afterward, as Timothy Garotte was acting so grateful and lovey-dovey about the water and the bathroom, he walked off with a box of unused checks of mine, which were for use on our local bank. I did not even find out about it until the next day, when a woman who is my part time housekeeper called from her other (full time) job on the other side of town to ask me if I had given an okay for this fellow to come in with my checks to purchase cigarettes and get cash back. Not just once, but _three times_ that day and again the next morning. If Timothy had not been so damn dumb and instead had gone out to Walmart, he could have pulled it off, mainly since Walmart is friends of no one here in town, nor would they have bothered to inquire, as the cashier at Mikey's Conoco station thought to do. Fortunatly for me, police had the guy the same day, a few minutes after he was on his _fourth trip_ to the station for cigarettes and cash back. According to police officer John Edwards, my instance was 'almost a record' in the time from offense to capture, much like the German lad who ripped off the man's automobile GPSunit, then turned around and sold it back to him via E-Bay a few days later. It makes me glad to be part of a small town where the merchants know all the citizens and care about them. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mark Sullivan Subject: Observers Tally Storm Telecom Toll Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 12:38:22 -0500 "Anyway ... I finally contact my friend; she is OK in Houston ... so sad that she is homeless now ... but well ... she is alive ... thanks God!" So reads a message from the Vonage Holdings Corp. user bulletin board dated August 29th. And it brings to light one of the hard lessons of Katrina: Most of our fancier communications services like VOIP and cellular are only as reliable as the basic utilities -- like the PSTN and public power -- that underpin them (see various articles on Katrina). In the example above, the Vonage user's friend in Houston probably couldn't be reached because of damage to the PSTN in the area, on which Vonage relies to route much of its long-distance traffic. Pure VOIP systems like Skype (excluding SkypeOut) were't much more useful, observers say. Those pure VOIP calls don't connect to the PSTN, but they still use an electrically-powered modem. Calls to Skype for usage levels on this story were not returned by deadline. Captain Ralph Mitchell of the Louisiana State Police tells Light Reading that most people in and around New Orleans are relying more on cell phone communication in the wake of the storm, but even that may be temporary. Cellular service too is tied to the availablity of power and the PSTN. And cellphones need electricity to recharge. Cell towers need power to transmit calls to the main switch and a connection to the PSTN for getting traffic from the cell cites to the main switch. The various breakdowns in communications services are a central cause of the poor emergency response to Katrina. Today, the main challenge is evacuating the city, yet as many as 10,000 remain, despite orders from both FEMA and the mayor that everybody must go. "The problem is that these people are cut off from communications, and they have to be convinced that this problem is really serious," Mitchell says. "I don't know if they still have cell phones that work. After all, the storm struck a week ago Saturday; most people don't have electricity, so I don't think they have a way to recharge their batteries." T-Mobile USA believes many of its users in the storm-affected areas are using cellular text messaging to communicate. Unlike cell phone calls, text messaging traffic relies on microwave signals, not PSTN lines, to get from the cell towers to the main switch in New Orleans. "From there they can be transmitted anywhere," says T-Mobile spokes- man Peter Dobrow. T-Mobile says that calls in and out of its New Orleans market, which extends to surrounding cities Baton Rouge and Slidell, usually number about 1.4 million a day. On the day Katrina hit, August 29, that number fell to 600,000. Many T-Mobile cell towers had gone down in the region, but were soon restored, Dobrow says. The call numbers then rose to 1.1 million on the 30th, then back to 1.4 million on the 31st. Cellular traffic throughout the Gulf Coast region is now "at or exceeding normal usage levels," according to Dobrow. Vonage spokeswoman Brooke Schulz says Vonage call volume from the affected region has gone down by about 60 percent since the storm. "At our New Orleans PSTN connection we saw our inbound traffic from our CLEC partner completely cease at around 1PM on 8/29; it was not turned up again until 7AM on 8/30," Schulz wrote in an email to Light Reading on Monday. "Our circuits were up and running throughout that time, but no inbound calls were coming through to us during that time." While Vonage acknowledges the service outage, it puts the blame on the failure of the local communications infrastructure. Vonage pays a tariff to local CLECs to access the PSTN around the region (see 'Madison River Eyes Damage'). "If that CLEC goes down or that CLEC gets flooded with calls or if that physical connection is somehow disrupted, we can get the calls into Vonage -- it's not Vonage that goes down -- but the CLEC side can't get the calls to us," Schulz says. In the days following the Katrina's landfall, local CLECs scrambled to get their infrastructures operable again. But Katrina hit ten days ago, and still most PSTN calls to the Gulf Coast region end with the sound of recorded announcement saying: "Due to the hurricane in the area you are calling..." Even if the CLEC and the PSTN had been operable, most VOIP users wouldn't have noticed -- much of the region was without power in the days after Katrina hit. According to statements by local utilities, the power may be off in some areas of New Orleans for many days to come while floodwaters are drained from the city. Capt. Mitchell says 90 percent of New Orleans is still "without basic services." A Wall Street Journal report Monday estimated 1.8 million phone lines were disabled. Officials say the task of getting communications back to normal could take weeks, partly because much of the damaged infrastructure is still underwater. The major carrier in the region, BellSouth Corp. believes as many as 750,000 of its landline customers and millions of cellphone customers were without service across Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi (see 'BellSouth Assesses Katrina'). by Mark Sullivan, Reporter, Light Reading Copyright 2005 Light Reading Inc. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. Get aquainted with _all_ the features of Telecom Digest Extra at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/index.html *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, Light Reading, Inc. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular News Report Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 07:37:28 -0500 From: Cellular-News Changes to cellular-news We are pleased to announce a new service on cellular-news that will enable you to read the web site without seeing any advertisements whatsoever. We are also about to launch a range of "premium" news articles -- which will be made available to readers of TELECOM Digest. Watch for this new feature daily in the TELECOM Digest. Alcatel Wins GSM Contract http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13996.php Alcatel has been awarded a contract by Sun Cellular, the mobile brand of Digital Mobile Philippines (DMPI) in the Philippines, to expand the operator's GSM/GPRS mobile network capacity. This contract,... CMOS Grows on Mobile-Phone Transceivers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13997.php CMOS process technology is enjoying increasing use in Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver chips of mobile phones and by 2009 will be employed in 40% of wireless handsets shipped, iSuppli Corp. predicts. Satisfaction with Wireless Service Providers Decreasing http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13998.php Overall satisfaction performance with the USA's wireless service providers has decreased 10% over 2004, the biggest year-over-year change since the study's inception, according to the J.D. Power and A... Email, Weather, and Search Top Mobile Internet Use http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13995.php Telephia has reported that email, weather and search websites are the most popular categories among consumers logging online via their mobile phones. According to Telephia's newly launched Mobile Inte... HSDPA Added to Handheld Wireless RF Field Tester http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13999.php Tektronix has announced the addition of the High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) software option to its NetTek Wireless RF Field Tester. Tektronix says that it is the first manufacturer to provid... Telular Wins LatAm Fixed Cellular Handset Orders http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14000.php Telular Corp. says that it has received purchase orders totaling US$22.9 million for business with multiple Latin American wireless network operators in Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Ve... Dual-Mode Smart Phones to Lead Fixed Mobile Convergence Push http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14001.php The fixed line phone, long a fixture in 95% of USA homes and offices, is about to be replaced by new smart phone technology capable of working as reliably as a fixed line phone in the home or office a... Motorola Finally Shows Off iPod Mobile Phone http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14002.php Motorola and Apple have finally announced the availability of the world's first mobile phone with iTunes, enabling music lovers to transfer up to 100 of their favorite songs from the iTunes jukebox on... Ericsson: Plans US$1 Billion Invest In China Next Five Years http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13986.php Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Telefon AB LM Ericsson (ERICY) plans to invest US$1 billion in China over the next five years, Mats H. Olsson, president of Ericsson Greater China, said Wedn... Ericsson To Supply HSDPA To Cellcom In Israel http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13987.php Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Telefon AB LM Ericsson (ERICY) Wednesday said it has recieved an order from Israel mobile operator Cellcom, to supply a third generation/HSDPA radio network.... China Expected To Issue 3G Licenses Early 2006 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13988.php Telefon AB LM Ericsson (ERICY) expects China to issue third-generation telecommunications licenses early next year, a senior executive at the Swedish telecom equipment maker said Wednesday. Ericsson Signs Managed Services Contract With Sonaecom http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13989.php Telefon AB LM Ericsson (ERICY) said Wednesday it has signed a five-year managed services contract with Portuguese telecom group Sonaecom S/A (SNC.LB). The company didn't give financial detai... New Orleans Police Seek Snipers Firing At Phone Workers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13990.php NEW ORLEANS (AP)--There are reports from New Orleans of shots being fired at cellphone workers on towers trying to restore service. Authorities have been going door to door at nearby apartme... FCC Official: 1 Million Phone Lines Out In Katrina Area http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13991.php More than 1 million customer phone lines and over 20 switching centers remain out of service in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, a Federal Communications Commission official said Wednesday. ... FCC Asks Wireless Cos. To Pledge No Cutoff Post Katrina http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13992.php The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday told wireless carriers to continue providing cellphone service to customers affected by Hurricane Katrina even if their bills are unpaid. Ericsson CFO: Not A Great Believer In Mega Mergers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13993.php L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co.'s (ERICY) chief financial officer said he wasn't a "great believer in mega-mergers." "I believe you create your own value," said Karl-Henrik Sundstrom. He added t... Vodafone Japan Gains Net 3,600 Mobile Phone Users In Aug http://www.cellular-news.com/story/13994.php The Japanese unit of Vodafone Group Plc. (VOD) said Wednesday it gained a net 3,600 subscribers to its mobile phone services in August. Vodafone K.K. had 14,988,200 customers as of the end o... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 08 Sep 2005 00:55:52 -0700 From: John L. Shelton Subject: Re: Laptops Tune On, Tune In to Seattle Metro's Transit John Stahl quoted a newspaper writer: > I wish more cities would get gutsy and fight the local Teleco > incumbent (it seems that they and the cable provider think they "own" > connection to the Internet) to put FREE Wi-FI every where (especially > on busses with the high cost of fuel) they want. I haven't heard if > Philly and other cities have given up their quest and fight to put in > these systems. The cities aren't doing this for free. They tax their citizens (and visitors are taxed more than citizens) to provide these allegedly nice services. Do you really want your cities expanding their budgets and spending on things that commercial vendors are happy to compete to do? Perhaps they should go build levees or something that others don't want to do. Why is wi-fi on the bus good for citizens who don't ride, or don't have laptops? For you left-thinkers out there, why are your cities catering to the wealthier bus riders? Why not free coffee, of value to all bus riders? (Dallas tried that trick in the 1970s, but people still drove to work.) When foreign governments subsidize industry, many of you call it "dumping" and protest it. But if Seattle does the same thing, again depriving someone of a job, you call it good. The only "fair" thing is to allow competition from all providers and for government to step back and try to do well in the few areas we entrust to it. If a city prevents competition, the solution isn't letting only the city compete: it's real competition. *sigh* =John= john@jshelton.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 08:11:53 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: iPod Phone Isn't Perfect, but It's a Start David Pogue September 8, 2005 IPOD phone. It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? You'd better believe it. When Apple announced that it was about to unveil something big, its stock price zoomed to a record high. The Gizmodo Web site posted an exhibit of no fewer than 24 different faked "iPod phone" photos that have circulated online. Gadget freaks worldwide went foamy at the mouth. Now, plenty of current cellphones can already play music -- but not with Apple's sense of style and polish. They can't play songs from Apple's iTunes Music Store, either, which is where 10 million people -- more than 80 percent of the world's online song buyers -- get them. So questions about the new iPod phone flew thick and fast in nerd circles. Will it look cool, like an iPod? Will it have the iPod's famous click wheel on the front? Will the phone have a hard drive that can hold thousands of songs? Will you be able to download songs straight from the Internet? Will it have a FireWire or U.S.B. 2.0 connector for superfast music transfer? Will you be able to use your songs as ring tones, so that the phone bursts out in "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman" when your husband calls? All became clear on a San Francisco stage yesterday morning when Steven P. Jobs, Apple's chief, took the wraps off two new products. One was a new iPod model - the iPod nano - that's so thin, it looks like a traditional white (or black) iPod that's been squished by a steamroller. Its two models ($199 and $249) hold 500 and 1,000 songs in memory; there's no hard drive, which helps the nano crank out 14 hours of music on a charge. The other new product was, yes, a new combination cellphone and music player, a collaboration among Apple, Cingular and Motorola, called the Rokr E1, which will cost $250 with a new Cingular contract. (Ever since its Razr phone became a hit, Motorola's been on a roll with its omitted-letter naming scheme.) ALL right, now, about those questions: the answer to all of them is no. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/technology/circuits/08pogue.html?ex=1283832000&en=72979b085595fb7f&ei=5090 ------------------------------ From: Lisa Reyes Subject: IEC's Broadband Forum 2005 Hosts Cutting-Edge Triple-Play Session Date: THU, 8 SEP 2005 11:39:51 -0500 Reply-To: lreyes@iec.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Lisa Reyes Phone: 1+312+559+3325 E-Mail: mailto:lreyes@iec.org IEC's BROADBAND FORUM EUROPE 2005 HOSTS CUTTING-EDGE TRIPLE-PLAY SESSION Executive Telecom Providers Share Unique Perspectives for Controlling Operations Costs throughout Life Cycle of Triple-Play Service Bundles CHICAGO September 7, 2005 The International Engineering Consortium (IEC) hosts an unprecedented Future of the Triple Play, industry overview session led by top-level information industry executives who will address challenges and share solutions on broadband convergence at Broadband World Forum Europe, 3 October in Madrid, Spain. This distinct industry overview session provides a comprehensive outlook, bringing together principal leaders from a software provider, a systems provider, two service providers, and a prominent industry analyst to one session. Led by Chairperson Alan Mottram, president, Fixed Solutions division, Alacatel, panelists include Phil Corman, director, Worldwide Partner Development, Microsoft TV; Massimo Intorella, vice president, Strategic Marketing, Telecom Italia Wireline; Paul Berriman, head of Strategic Market Development, PCCW; and Stphane Tral, managing director, 10th Street Advisors. As Mr. Mottram noted the excitement of triple play as the hottest topic in the industry, he commented, "Everyone wants us to get everything done yesterday. We are going really fast, but must also be careful to get it right" [Triple play's] impact will be significant, even revolutionary. Mr. Mottram added that the session provides a unique opportunity to hear different perspectives on the future of triple play. Granting information on a new approach that builds management intelligence and automation directly into triple-play services, the session affords valuable education to telecom professionals worldwide trying to understand the new management paradigm. Mr. Corman commented, "Microsoft believes that Internet Protocol (IP) technology is the future of triple-play and quadruple-play services. Attendees will learn how to deliver next-generation digital TV services over their managed, broadband IP networks, and how to extend this value by connecting them to compatible devices and services." The IEC's Broadband World Forum Europe http://www.iec.org/events/2005/bbwf/ , unparallel to any other communications event, expects to host more than 80 exhibitors, more than 3,000 attendees, and present more than 160 sessions over four days at the Palacio Municipal de Congresos de Madrid. The two-day WiMAX Global ComForum also takes place at the event, addressing technology and business challenges associated with WiMAX wireless broadband networks. Encouraging professionals to learn and share information, both events fulfill the IEC's commitment to catalyzing positive change in technology, business, and academia. Contact: Lisa Reyes Phone: 1+312+559+3325 E-Mail: lreyes@iec.org ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 12:50:17 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Texas Alters Franchise Law, Opens Way For Telco USTelecom dailyLead September 8, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24453&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Texas alters franchise law, opens way for telco TV BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * The iTunes phone has arrived * EBay emerges as Skype suitor * Katrina knocks out emergency networks * News Corp. buys IGN * Appraiser may determine value of Nextel Partners * Cisco flaw makes computer networks vulnerable USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Telecom Technology Executives to Share Vision at TELECOM '05 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Report: AOL poised to launch video VoIP REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * EU approves Siemens mobile phone sale * Ebbers free during appeal * EC approves Tele2-Versatel deal Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24453&l=2017006 Legal and Privacy information at http://www.dailylead.com/about/privacy_legal.jsp SmartBrief, Inc. 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20005 ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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) RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308 and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest ************************************************************************* * 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. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ 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. 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 V24 #410 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Sep 9 14:38:25 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 8D1B5151E9; Fri, 9 Sep 2005 14:38:24 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #411 Message-Id: <20050909183824.8D1B5151E9@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 14:38:24 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.4 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Fri, 9 Sep 2005 14:38:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 411 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson China Telecom Said to Block Skype (Doug Young) Tiawan Court Convicts Music Sharing Service Kuro (Jeffrey Goldfarb) Internet Pioneer Vint Cerf Joins Google (Michael Leidtke) Katrina Victims Also ID Theft Victims (Andy Sullivan) Yahoo Defends Itself Over China News Allegations (John Ruwich) Cellular-News for Friday 9th September 2005 (Cellular-News) Ebay & Skype = Death (codefixer@gmail.com) Apple Special Event Webcast (Monty Solomon) iPod Nano Combines Beauty, Function (Monty Solomon) Cisco IP NGN -- Video/IPTV (Monty Solomon) Microsoft and Sigma Designs Pave Way for Low-Cost IPTV Devices (Solomon) IPTV Industry Prepares to Deliver Microsoft TV-Enabled Set-Top (Solomon) Verizon V710 Settlement (Monty Solomon) Arizona Budget POTS Plans (Mike Sutter) How Can I Get Voiceglo Glophone to Answer Mail? (william108@gmail.com) Vinton Cerf Joins Google as 'Internet Evangelist' (US Telecom DailyLead) Re: Laptops Tune on, Tune in to Seattle Transit (Chip Cryderman) Re: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: iPod Phone Isn't Perfect, but It's a Start (EventHelix.com) Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security (Dave Close) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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: Doug Young Subject: China Telecom Said to Block Skype Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 10:03:21 -0500 China Telecom has started blocking access to a popular Internet telephone service that is threatening its long-distance revenue, according to local media reports and Internet postings. China's largest fixed-line phone carrier recently began blocking access to service from Skype Technologies SA, a European-based Internet telecoms services provider, in the affluent southern city of Shenzhen near Hong Kong, according to the reports, including one in the Shanghai Daily. They said China Telecom, whose broadband Internet service allows access to Skype, has plans to eventually block the service throughout its coverage area nationwide. They also said the carrier has created a "black list" of people who use the service in Shenzhen, and threatened to fine anyone who tries to get around the new obstacles. A China Telecom spokesman had no comment on the reports about the Shenzhen blockage, but gave a broader view. "Under the current relevant laws and regulations of China, PC-to-phone services are strictly regulated and only China Telecom and (the nation's other fixed-line carrier) China Netcom are permitted to carry out some trials on a very limited basis," he said. Skype service, which allows people to make calls from their PCs to regular phones, enables subscribers in China to dial to major Western markets in the United States and Europe for as little as 2 eurocents per minute (2.5 U.S. cents), compared with rates closer to $1 per minute from China Telecom. China routinely blocks access to Web sites on politically sensitive subjects such as the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement and the 1989 crackdown at Tiananmen Square that left hundreds dead. But blockage of sites for purely economic reasons is much less common. Tom Online, a Beijing-based provider of wireless value-added services that has a year-old relationship with Skype for Internet instant messaging services, said its product in China was still operational. HOT TOPIC The Internet telephony blockage was a hot topic on several Web forums hosted by Skype. "The whole thing looks to me like a plot to make back the money China Telecom thinks they lose because of Skype," complained one user in Shenzhen, who said his access was blocked but his wife, also in Shenzhen, was able to access the system. Other users in Shanghai said they were still able to access the system. Long distance business is an important revenue source for both China Telecom and China Netcom, accounting for about 20 percent of China Telecom's total revenue last year. Internet-based services like Skype are putting pressure on both companies to lower their long-distance tariffs, which have been coming down at a rate of about 12-15 percent annually in recent years, said BOC International analyst Alan Ng. "Eventually (Internet-based phone services) will be a threat," he said. "Whether it's already a serious threat, I doubt it. But it will get even more popular, and certainly that is why China Telecom is very concerned." U.S. Web auction giant EBay Inc. is currently in talks to buy Skype, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Thursday, amid concerns that the European company could crimp highly-profitable eBay's growth. China Telecom shares were down 0.88 percent at HK$2.80 in Hong Kong on Friday. They are unchanged since the beginning of the year, trailing a 6 percent gain for the broader Hang Seng Index. Investors are fretting about China Telecom's slowing growth, as they wait for the outcome of a highly anticipated industry restructuring expected to include the eventual awarding of third-generation (3G) mobile licenses. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Jeffrey Goldfarb Subject: Taiwan Court Convicts Music Sharing Service Kuro Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 10:05:21 -0500 By Jeffrey Goldfarb The music industry claimed another victory in its legal war against file-sharing networks on Friday when a Taiwan court convicted the service Kuro of criminal copyright infringement and sentenced its operators to jail terms of up to three years. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said it was the first criminal conviction of a peer-to-peer file sharing service, which distributes information between users instead of through a central server. Kuro, which charged users to access music files, was fined T$3 million, or about $90,000, IFPI said. Most of the songs available using Kuro were by local artists, none of whom were paid by the service, the music industry trade group said. "This is good news for artists and the music industry, particularly in Taiwan, which has had a history of piracy problems," said Lauri Rechardt, IFPI's director of licensing and litigation. "Kuro has received a criminal conviction, which sends a strong message that profiteering from infringement will not be tolerated," she added. Representatives for Kuro could not immediately be reached for comment. The judgment follows an Australian court ruling last week that popular Internet file-sharing network Kazaa breached copyright laws. It was ordered to modify its software to prevent online music piracy. The U.S. Supreme Court also said in June that services like Grokster and Morpheus can be held liable if their intent is to promote copyright infringement of songs or movies. That case was sent back to a lower court to be re-examined. IFPI said the two brothers who ran Kuro have each been sentenced to three years imprisonment and their father, who was president of the service, was sentenced to two years. A Kuro user was also convicted of uploading copyrighted material and sentenced to four months in prison, IFPI said. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Michael Liedtke Subject: Internet Pioneer Vinton Cerf Joins Google Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 20:47:23 -0500 By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer Google Inc. has hired Internet pioneer Vinton Cerf to float more ideas and develop new products, adding another weapon to the online search engine leader's rapidly growing arsenal of intellect. Cerf's defection from MCI Inc., announced Thursday, represents the latest coup for Mountain View-based Google, which has been amassing more brainpower as its payroll nearly quadrupled to 4,200 workers during the past two years. Along the way, Google has been raiding other companies, a tactic that has sparked a legal battle with one of its major rivals, software maker Microsoft Corp. The two high-tech titans battled in court this week over Kai Fu-Lee's July resignation from Microsoft to oversee Google's efforts to open a research center in China. In an interview, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said few of the company's recent hires have been as significant as Cerf, widely regarded as one of the Internet's creators because of his seminal work developing the network's essential communications protocols, TCP/IP, at Stanford University in the 1970s. "He is one of the most important people alive today," said Schmidt, who has been friends with Cerf for more than 20 years. "Vint has put his heart and soul into making the Internet happen. I know he is going to jump right in here and start shoveling out new ideas for Google." When he starts work at Google on Oct. 3, Cerf's official title will be "chief Internet evangelist," but he is determined to be more than a figurehead or detached visionary. "What I have done in the past is not going to be important at Google," Cerf said during an interview. "What's important at Google is what you are doing today and what you going to do tomorrow. That's the metric I will be measured by." Cerf will remain chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the oversight agency for Internet domain names. He also will continue as a visiting scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he has been focusing on a very Google-like project -- trying to figure out a way to connect the Internet to outer space. Cerf, 62, has spent the past 11 years at MCI, most recently as senior vice president of technology strategy. At MCI, he has worked on advanced networking technologies including services that combine data, voice and video and helped design MCI Mail, one of the Net's first commercial applications. He said MCI's pending $8.5 billion sale to Verizon Communications Inc. didn't push him out the door. Instead, he said working at Google is "really my dream job." Google didn't disclose Cerf's salary. When Google lured Lee away from Microsoft, it rewarded him with a $10 million compensation package, including a $2.5 million signing bonus, according to court documents. Cerf expects to spend much of his time developing new applications as Google continues to supplement the search engine that is core to the 7-year-old company. In recent years, it has released free software to organize computer files, sort digital photos, generate maps and conduct Internet-based phone calls and text chats. It also launched a Web-based e-mail service called Gmail. "What Google has really been doing is building an entirely new (computing) infrastructure and whenever you do that, it creates opportunities for new applications," Cerf said. Cerf will be a graybeard in Google's youthful culture, which has been shaped by the company's 32-year-old founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. But Cerf doesn't expect to have trouble fitting in, even though his penchant for wearing three-piece suits also figures to set him apart in Google's jeans-clad atmosphere. "I'm 62 going on 12 anyway," Cerf said. "What's wonderful about (Google) is that as long as you bring ideas to the table, it doesn't matter what else is going on." Although he will report to Google engineering chief Alan Eustace in Mountain View, Cerf won't be based in Silicon Valley. He will be working out of a Virginia office so he can stay close to his home. On The Net: Google: http://www.google.com Cerf's home page: http://www.mci.com/cerfsup Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more AP News headlines and stories, go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Andy Sullivan Subject: Katrina Victims Also Become ID Theft Victims Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 20:46:33 -0500 By Andy Sullivan Birth certificates and other sensitive documents left among the waterlogged debris of Hurricane Katrina could put the storm's victims at heightened risk for identity theft, experts said on Thursday. U.S. officials and consumer advocates said they had not yet heard of any cases of identity theft related to the disaster because the crime usually takes months to unfold. But consumers should keep a close eye on their bank statements and order a copy of their credit reports in the process of getting their lives back together to make sure they are not being victimized, they said. "We tell people not to be alarmed but to be cautious," said Betsy Broder, an assistant director in the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection. Those who wish to contribute to relief efforts are at risk as well. Internet-security company Websense said on Sunday that it had found a "phishing" e-mail campaign that seeks to trick Internet users into providing their credit-card numbers to a Web site that looks like one run by the Red Cross. In order to avoid such scams, donors should type the address of charitable Web sites directly into their browsers, rather than clicking on a link in the e-mail, experts said. The FBI is investigating at least a dozen suspicious Web sites and e-mail messages for fraud, spokesman Paul Bresson said. Similar scams emerged after the tsunami that devastated large portions of coastal Asia and Africa in December but "this is far worse," he said. The Justice Department said on Thursday that it has set up a task force to investigate identity theft and other types of fraud related to the Katrina. Identity theft costs U.S. consumers and businesses $50 billion annually, according to FTC estimates. A string of computer breaches at businesses and universities has focused attention on the issue this year but those who have been uprooted by Hurricane Katrina also face risk from looters and "dumpster divers" -- those who sift through garbage looking for valuable personal information to steal -- as well. Ruined homes and businesses are likely to contain mortgage records, Social Security cards and other documents that criminals can use to hijack an identity, said Linda Foley, co-executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center. "A crisis brings out the best of people and the worst of people. Unfortunately, in criminals it brings out their best skills," she said. Thieves also could intercept drivers' licenses and birth certificates when they are mailed to storm victims trying to get their lives back together, said Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. "I suspect that many of the shelters are temporary facilities and do the people running them have the ability to operate a secure post office?" she said. Mail bound for the affected areas is currently held in secure sorting facilities and will be forwarded to residents once they fill out a change-of-address form, U.S. Postal Service spokesman Bob Anderson said. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: John Ruwitch Subject: Yahoo Defends Itself Over China Accusations Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 21:00:33 -0500 By John Ruwitch Internet giant Yahoo Inc. defended itself on Thursday against accusations that it supplied data to Chinese authorities which led to the imprisonment of a journalist, saying it has to abide local laws. Press watchdogs accused Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. of providing details about e-mail communications that helped identify, and were used as evidence against, Shi Tao, who was sentenced in April to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets abroad. "Just like any other global company, Yahoo! must ensure that its local country sites must operate within the laws, regulations and customs of the country in which they are based," Yahoo spokeswoman Mary Osako said in a statement e-mailed to Reuters by the firm's Hong Kong arm. Yahoo declined to confirm or deny that it furnished the Chinese government with the information. The French group Reporters Without Borders said Shi, a former news editor for the Contemporary Business News in Hunan province, was convicted for e-mailing foreign-based Web sites the text of an internal message to journalists about dangers around the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 2004. China broadly defines as a state secret anything that affects the security and interests of the state, but the limits are vague and can include political news. Rights groups say the laws are arbitrary enough to be manipulated for political purposes. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in February that China had the most journalists in prison, 42, of any country for the sixth year in a row. Among those in detention are New York Times researcher Zhao Yan, arrested on charges of leaking state secrets to foreigners, and Hong Kong-based reporter Ching Cheong of the Singapore Straits Times, who China suspects of spying for Taiwan. Shi's conviction sent shockwaves through the Chinese journalist community because many felt his sentence was excessive and might have been heavy to serve as a warning. The Committee to Protect Journalists decried what it called China's "chokehold" on the Internet. "We categorically condemn the outrageous prosecution of Shi Tao," Executive Director Ann Cooper said. "We call on the Chinese government and Yahoo to provide a full explanation of the circumstances that led the company to provide account holder information," In 2002, Yahoo was among the many firms to voluntarily sign the "Public Pledge on Self-Discipline for the China Internet Industry," seen by critics as a promise of self-censorship. Reporters Without Borders asked how far Yahoo would go. "Does the fact that this corporation operates under Chinese law free it from all ethical considerations? How far will it go to please Beijing?" it said in a statement. "It is one thing to turn a blind eye to the Chinese government's abuses and it is quite another thing to collaborate." (Additional reporting by Eric Auchard in San Francisco) Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. To learn more about Telecom-Digest Extra please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular News for Friday 9th September 2005 Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 09:11:01 -0500 From: cellular-news Changes to cellular-news We are pleased to announce a new service on cellular-news that will enable you to read the web site without seeing any advertisements whatsoever. We are also about to launch a range of "premium" news articles -- which will be made available to TELECOM Digest readers. 1.5 Billion GSM Customers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14014.php 3G Americas reports that as of August 2005, there are 1.5 billion GSM customers according to the latest subscriber data from Informa Telecoms & Media. Remarkably, it was just in Q1 2004 that the GSM t... Pre-WiMAX Trial in Manhattan Next Year http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14015.php Adaptix, a provider of software defined, all-IP Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) wireless mobile broadband access technologies, and the NY3G Partnership, a Broadband Radio Service... Nokia Moving to Minimise Semiconductor Dependency http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14016.php Merrill Lynch has issued a report commenting on moves by Nokia to lower its handset component costs as well as diverging its supply lines to protect it from a potential ly damaging WinTel style allian... Mobiles Work On English Channel Ferries http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14017.php Passengers and staff are now able to make wireless phone calls while at sea aboard the Stena Line's Stena Europe, a SuperFerry that sails the English Channel. Maritime Communications Partner (MCP) is ... Large Enterprises Plan New Investments in WiFi, GPS, Push-to-Talk and RFID http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14018.php While RFID (Radio Frequency ID) and GPS (Global Positioning System) applications remain relatively rare among large enterprises, these two application areas will likely become much more common after t... Motorola CEO: Co Needs To Increase Market Share In India http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14003.php There are phenomenal growth opportunities in emerging markets for Motorola Inc. (MOT), but one country the telecom-equipment maker needs to work on is India, Chief Executive Ed Zander said Wednesday. ... Ericsson To License 3G Platform To NEC http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14004.php Telefon AB LM Ericsson (ERICY) Thursday said it has signed a license agreement with NEC Corp. (NIPNY) for U250, the latest Wideband Code Division Multiple Access/General Packet Radio Systems platform ... EU Court Rules Most Mobile Phone "Mast Taxes" Are Legal http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14005.php The European Court of Justice ruled Thursday that most taxes imposed on mobile phone masts are legal. The case involves the Belgian communes of Fleron and Schaerbeek, who imposed taxes on ma... EU Divided Over Data-retention Bill For Security Package http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14006.php NEWCASTLE, England (AP)--European Union nations debated a contentious plan Thursday that would force telecommunications companies to keep records of cell-phone and e-mail traffic for up to three years... Nokia Supplies WCDMA Network To Eurotel http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14007.php Finland's Nokia Oyj (NOK) said Thursday it has signed a contract with Czech mobile operator Eurotel Praha (ERP.YY) for the supply of wideband code division multiple access, WCDMA, third generation net... EU OK's Taiwan Co BenQ To Buy Siemens Mobile http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14008.php The European Commission Thursday cleared Taiwanese electronics manufacturer BenQ Corp. (2352.TW) to buy the mobile phone unit of German electronics and engineering group Siemens AG (SI). Sony Ericsson Can't Meet Demand For Walkman Phone http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14009.php Sony Ericsson can't meet demand for its new music phone W800, a company spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday. Sony Ericsson, a joint venture of Sony Corp. (SNE) and Telefon AB LM Eric... Telecom Italia 1st Half Net Profit Up 81% On Accounting,Capital Gain http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14010.php Telecom Italia SpA (TIT.MI) said Thursday its first half consolidated net profit increased by 81% thanks to accounting changes and capital gains from asset disposals. Italy's leading telecom... Telekom Austria To Pursue Legal Action Over Mast Tax http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14011.php Telekom Austria AG (TKA) said Thursday it will continue pursuing legal action to stop a tax being levied on wireless masts in Lower Austria after a European Union court ruled that such taxes are legal... Nokia's Gross Margin On Network Services Around 25% - Executive http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14012.php Nokia Corp.'s (NOK) network services unit is seeing gross margins of around 25% to 26%, Executive Vice President Simon Beresford-Wylie told investors in a Web cast conference Thursday. Solar Flare Hampers Communications http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14013.php SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) - Nature has thrown another curveball at communications systems and power grids already pounded by Hurricane Katrina: Solar flares. The National Oceanic and At... ------------------------------ From: codefixer@gmail.com Subject: Ebay & Skype = Death Date: 8 Sep 2005 14:22:19 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com The great dot-com boom, a pot full of lies filled and fuelled by companies like Enron, Citigroup and other Wall Street associates, Optical Fiber innovators and greedy scientists like Gururaj Desh, Star Telecom Analysts like Jack Grubman together brought down the entire nations economy giving hard time for the conservative and federal reserve guard, Greenspan. In the aftermath of Dot.Com bust, the Big 3 of Internet emerged, Yahoo, Ebay and AOL. Cisco, Sun, Amazon, MSN and others existed but their business models were not too consumer centric and they only tried hard to survive growth. A new Stanford born baby was already conceiving and came to limelight in 2001. Yes you got it right, Google. With it's powerful Search technology it replaced AOL to join the Big 3. Google focused on web-services technologies, unveiled new model of business with its cool web based applications like gmail and google maps. It is always said that many of us have herd mentality. So when Google unveiled their Google Talk, the Redmond company which has already lost its focus announced the buy-out of Teleo (teleo.com). The telecom and VoIP bug has now bitten eBay. According to Bloomberg, it is willing to pay a whopping $3 Billion. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aLvNorCTFLZM&refer=us So is eBay willing to pay so much just for the subscribers it has? What about Yahoo integrated instant messaging and VoIP based services it offers? These Telecom analysts are all set to ruin the recovery in the IT world, which came back in the real form of web-services. Don't forget, Skype is a big hype. Not every customer will pay you for the low quality service that Skype offers. The entry cost for Skype like services are very low. Any company with a million dollar in its treasury and a good negotiator across the table can use much of open source tools and build such a service. Where are the customers? In my experience, between Google Talk and Yahoo!, the former got better customer rating because of the clarity compared with Yahoo!. But Google has 1/100th the number of users compared to Yahoo! So lesser the number of customers better the quality. I think the VoIP market will evolve as a fragmented market with at least two service providers for every small town and more than a dozen providers for large cities. I only hope someone will save eBay from shelling out couple of billions for a useless services as this. I will not immediately jump to VoIP unless they come up to the quality of fixed line Telco's otherwise, I can never conduct my business with lost words in-between deals. Maybe eBay and Skype officials must negotiate using Skype VoIP to know what eBay is paying for and what Skype is offering. <> ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 01:35:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Apple Special Event Webcast http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/specialevent05/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 04:34:20 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: iPod Nano Combines Beauty, Function By Walter S. Mossberg Grab a standard American business card. Now, get a pair of scissors and trim the long side of the card by 20%. That's all the space you need to hold over 1,000 songs, plus audio books, podcasts and photos if you buy Apple Computer's newest iPod model, the gorgeous and sleek iPod nano. This latest iPod was publicly revealed yesterday at a razzle-dazzle marketing event orchestrated by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. But I have been testing a nano for the past few days, and I am smitten. It's not only beautiful and incredibly thin, but I found it exceeds Apple's performance claims. In fact, the nano has the best combination of beauty and functionality of any music player I've tested -- including the iconic original white iPod. And it sounds great. I plan to buy one for myself this weekend, when it is due to reach stores in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Available in classic iPod white, or a lustrous black (my favorite), the nano is not only small, it's stunningly skinny -- about the thickness of five credit cards stacked on top of one another. That means it can be carried easily in even the snuggest of clothing and the smallest of purses, and worn comfortably during exercise. You could even carry it in a wallet, if you were sure you wouldn't sit on it. Yet the nano, which starts at $199 in the middle of the iPod range, contains key features previously available only on the largest, costliest iPods. These include a sharp color screen, the ability to display the album covers for the songs it's playing, and the ability to store a user's photos and display them in slide shows accompanied by music. Also, despite its small size, the nano holds plenty of songs and can play them for a long time. The base $199 model has two gigabytes of storage, which Apple says can hold 500 songs. A second model, at $249, has four gigabytes of storage and can hold 1,000 songs, Apple claims. The company says this slip of a player somehow packs in a large enough battery to play continuously for 14 hours. In my tests, I found that the nano's battery lasted a bit longer than Apple claims -- 14 hours and 18 minutes. And I was easily able to pack around 1,200 songs, plus a couple dozen photos, into the $249 model, because most older pop and rock tunes tend to be shorter than the notional song Apple uses to calculate capacity. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20050908.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 08:50:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cisco IP NGN - Video/IPTV Service Providers Worldwide Driving Video/IPTV with Cisco IP NGN; Unmatched Global Experience, Proven Scalability and Open Solution Architecture Drive Cisco Deployment Leadership in Video/IPTV - Sep 9, 2005 07:00 AM (BusinessWire) AMSTERDAM, Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 2005--Cisco Systems(R) (Nasdaq:CSCO) today announced continued momentum on its leadership with service providers around the world in delivery of video/IPTV services over its IP Next Generation Network (IP NGN) reference architecture. Cisco has unmatched video/IPTV networking deployment experience, with platforms and technologies that enable scaling to millions of subscribers quickly and easily and with a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than others. Cisco's approach enables providers to improve the subscriber experience and increase average revenue-per-subscriber (ARPU) by offering enhanced viewing options, improved security and proven reliability. This is based on improved service control, intelligence within the aggregation layer and scalability at the network core. The Cisco IP NGN architecture gives providers an open platform for service differentiation, allowing them to move beyond video/IPTV to develop and deliver a variety of integrated media services in the connected home. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51673846 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 08:54:46 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft and Sigma Designs Pave the Way for Low-Cost IPTV Devices System-on-Chip Technology Stimulates Market Opportunity for High-Definition IPTV Services AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today at IBC2005, the International Broadcasters Convention, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Sigma Designs Inc. (Nasdaq: SIGM) announced the availability of a new class of system-on-chip (SOC) that will enable the production of low-cost, high-definition-capable devices optimized for the Microsoft(R) TV Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) Edition software platform. The new SMP8634 media processor from Sigma Designs will enable set-top box and consumer electronics manufacturers to create a range of products for broadband service providers to deliver IPTV services to the home. Microsoft and Sigma Designs have worked closely together to extend the processing functionality of Sigma Designs' open standards-based SMP8634 media processor to achieve a feature set that delivers the full power of the Microsoft TV platform. This innovative SOC is capable of delivering multiple channels of high-definition (HD) video and on-screen graphics, powerful multimedia processing, powerful content security, and support for a full range of peripherals such as USB 2.0, IDE, Ethernet and HDMI. Support for the VC-1 and H.264 (MPEG-4) video codecs is also built in, further reducing costs for set-top box manufacturers. The SOC can be embedded inside a range of consumer electronic devices to enable consumers to choose from a variety of IPTV-ready receivers such as TV sets, set-top boxes, digital video disc players and gaming consoles. These offerings create more "on ramps" to the connected digital home, enabling great stand-alone IPTV experiences that are ultimately "better together" when connected to other compatible devices and services. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51671784 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 08:49:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: IPTV Industry Prepares to Deliver Microsoft TV-Enabled Set-Tops IPTV Industry Prepares to Deliver Microsoft TV-Enabled Set-Tops and Consumer Devices to the Home - Sep 9, 2005 02:30 AM (PR Newswire) Hardware Partners Confirm Support With New Set-Top Boxes and System-on-Chip Offerings AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today at IBC2005, the International Broadcasters Convention, in a milestone for the industry's move toward Internet Protocol television (IPTV) readiness, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced further partner support for its IPTV software platform with a host of new set-top-box offerings and a new class of system-on-chip (SOC) that will enable the production of low-cost, high-definition (HD) set-top boxes. The announcements underline a growing choice of Microsoft(R) TV IPTV Edition-enabled devices, allowing broadband service providers worldwide to develop offerings best suited to their business models and customer needs. Hardware partners Linksys-KiSS, Motorola Inc., Scientific-Atlanta Inc., Tatung Co. and Thomson confirmed support for the Microsoft TV platform with a range of new set-top boxes supporting Microsoft TV IPTV Edition: -- Linksys-KiSS announced it will provide set-top-box products supporting Microsoft TV IPTV Edition with integrated DVB-T tuners and conditional access support for European Network operators. Products will be available in December 2005. -- Motorola will support Microsoft TV IPTV Edition in the company's worldwide portfolio of IP-based video products, including its VIP line of IPTV set-tops, a forthcoming line of hybrid IPTV-DTT set-tops and advanced video-encoding technology. -- Scientific-Atlanta announced its support for Microsoft TV IPTV Edition in a new family of set-top boxes under development. Scientific-Atlanta will target both the NTSC market with its IPN series set-top family and the PAL and European markets with its IPP series set-tops. Models will range from basic SD to HD and DVR and will include optional features such as integrated IP over Coax and DVB-T support. These set-top models, which complement Scientific-Atlanta's encoder support for IPTV Edition, will be on display at IBC2005 Stand 1.471. -- Tatung announced its support for Microsoft TV IPTV Edition in a new set-top box. The company will demonstrate this support in the Sigma Designs booth, Hall 3 West, No. 151. -- Thomson and Intel Corporation announced that a new family of IPM11xx set-top boxes supporting Microsoft TV IPTV Edition is now commercially available and shipping to Microsoft TV customers. The IPM11xx products support a range of video codecs including MPEG-2, Windows Media(R) Video 9 (Microsoft's implementation of VC-1, the proposed SMPTE standard) and MPEG-4 AVC. They feature the Intel 1.4 GHz Intel 854 platform with its application-handling performance, design flexibility and scalability. They also come with optional hard disk drives for both streaming and digital video recording (DVR) applications. On display in Thomson Stand 11.551, the IPM11xx products are the first deployable set-top boxes to support the IPTV Edition software. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51671783 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 10:46:41 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon V710 Settlement http://www.kirtlandpackard.com/v710/ Class Action Against Verizon for the Motorola v710 Cell Phone A national settlement has been reached in the claims against Verizon Wireless over the Motorola V710 cell phone. Details will be available shortly at http://www.verizonwireless.com/V710Settlement ------------------------------ From: Mike Sutter Subject: Arizona Budget POTS Plans Date: Fri, 09 Sep 2005 04:58:20 GMT Organization: Road Runner My elderly parents maintain two residences, one in NY and another, which is the focus of my question in the Greater Phoenix AZ area (Apache Junction to be precise). Area code is 480, NXX is 982, LEC is Qwest. More background -- My parents have gone completely wireless in NY. They have ported their NY number to the mobile and are happy with the results. However, they have many friends in the Phoenix area that would be put off by LD charges to call their NY mobile number. That said they feel and I agree that they need to keep their POTS line in Phoenix but don't want to spend a bundle on it since all outgoing calls will be on the mobile. And so, finally on to the question, does anyone know if Qwest offers a real low cost (perhaps metered) service for POTS in the 480 area? Where I'm at (NY) the LEC is obligated to provide a minimal POTS service that allows a small number of outgoing calls and an unlimited number of inbound calls. The service was designed by regulators to provide a minimal service for pensioners and the otherwise disadvantaged that would not cannibalize other more functional rate plans. The Qwest web site is no help; it only talks about premium plans. ------------------------------ From: william108@gmail.com Subject: No Help From Voiceglo Glophone Date: 9 Sep 2005 06:27:21 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have called Voiceglo and been put on hold for 2 hours. I have written to them to cancel my account and stop charging me but they do not respond. Can anyone say how I can stop them from continually charging my card. This has been going on for 6 months and they don't respond by phone or mail. When I call they just put me on hold. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The best solution, IMO would be to notify your credit card company to _accept no further charges to your account_ from Voiceglo. After a month or two of this, Voiceglo will most likely want to know what is going on, and cancel your service. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 13:43:54 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Vinton Cerf Joins Google as 'Internet Evangelist' USTelecom dailyLead September 9, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24485&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Vinton Cerf joins Google as "Internet evangelist" BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Apple may have grander ambitions in mobile phone market * Wireless broadband helps connect hurricane region * Skype mulls its options * Murdoch's Web plan begins to take shape USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Triple Play: Real Life Lessons, Thursday, Sept. 15, 1 p.m. EDT EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Microsoft promotes its IPTV platform at IBC VOIP DOWNLOAD * VoIP was communications lifeline for New Orleans officials * China Telecom unit blocks SkypeOut * VoIP company launches 911 network * FT breaks down the VoIP boom REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Cable group challenges Texas franchise law Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24485&l=2017006 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Laptops Tune On, Tune In to Seattle Metro's Transit Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 13:57:05 -0400 From: Charles Cryderman John L. Shelton wrote: > The cities aren't doing this for free. They tax their citizens (and > visitors are taxed more than citizens) to provide these allegedly nice > services. Do you really want your cities expanding their budgets and > spending on things that commercial vendors are happy to compete to do? > Perhaps they should go build levees or something that others don't want > to do. > Why is wi-fi on the bus good for citizens who don't ride, or don't have > laptops? For you left-thinkers out there, why are your cities catering > to the wealthier bus riders? Why not free coffee, of value to all bus > riders? (Dallas tried that trick in the 1970s, but people still drove > to work.) > When foreign governments subsidize industry, many of you call it > "dumping" and protest it. But if Seattle does the same thing, again > depriving someone of a job, you call it good. > The only "fair" thing is to allow competition from all providers and for > government to step back and try to do well in the few areas we entrust > to it. If a city prevents competition, the solution isn't letting only > the city compete: it's real competition. John, it sounds to me you are either a paid mouth piece (lobbyist) for the fixed line providers (LEC or cable company), or employed by Qworst, I'm sorry, I mean Qwest. SBC is the dominate carrier in Michigan and yet we are not getting wireless internet access here. They are doing their best to ensure their paid employees in Lansing (state capital & if your not understanding that, I am talking about the politicians) pass laws stopping local governments from giving us wireless access. Now had a private commercial enterprise came in and did one I wouldn't care if they did or not. But you see, Oakland County (one of the top ten in wealth in the US), where I live, wants to provide wireless access to residents and business' no matter who they are, what they do, where they live. You see, the county executive wants to empower the under privileged and knows that you need those with the money to do it. His plan is to wire the entire county so that rates for those that don't make the big bucks will not cause them to choose between paying rent, buying food or using the internet to help them improve their lot in life. In a capitalistic society business should be the ones to do these things, but SBC is to busy trying to take cable company's video customers (as well as paying for AT&T so they can expand their monopoly) to spend the money now for wireless access here. Yes, my tax dollars are going to be used for this endeavor, but seeing as no one else is stepping up to the plate I think the county executive is going to hit a home run for the fans. In the end the price charged for this access will pay for the installation and operations with the added bonus of forcing Comcrap, there I go again, Comcast, and SBC to reduce the inflated rates they now charge for DSL and cable modems. Chip Cryderman [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: SBC is the dominant carrier here in rural southeast Kansas as well, and they have made it plain to the government authorities here (meaning city and county officials in the four county southeast corner of Kansas) that they better not try to 'pull' another 'Independence deal' on them where we (a) got an independent telco (Prairie Stream) available and (b) City Hall was thinking seriously about municipal wi-fi connected through CableOne (our local cable company) for Independence. SBC was 'asleep at the switch' -- the best way to phrase it -- when Prairie Stream went into business; SBC has stated they will allow no other entity to get away with that. They (SBC) laughed and said 'Prairie Stream wants to play like a telephone company, so let them try.' Now that Prairie Stream has a few thousand customers here in Kansas and has the Commission's blessings pretty much in whatever they do, SBC is blinking and saying 'well, damned if those people are going to take over all our business.' SBC has promised to sue us if the muni wi-fi plan goes any further and I am sure they will do just that. SBC also brought up that old, lame excuse about how 'city government should not be in the utility business' but they backed off from that a little when it was pointed out that Coffeyville has had municipal electric service for about a hundred years with no ill-effects. Coffeyville Light and Power has done okay, but don't pass the message on to SBC, please. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 19:46:02 EDT Subject: Re: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy In a message dated Wed, 7 Sep 2005 20:31:15 -0700, Al Gillis writes: > Anyway, Ed Norton (Art) came to the Cramden apartment that evening and > asked to use the telephone. Jackie told his pal, "Sure -- go ahead. > But remember this costs me money for every call". (Jackie had > obviously ordered a measured line). Has anything but measured service every been available in New York, where the Honeymooners was set? This meant some bits of business and some rules of etiquette were completely lost on people in most of the country, where flat rate service was always offered and was used by the great majority of customers. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com ------------------------------ From: EventHelix.com Subject: Re: iPod Phone Isn't Perfect, but It's a Start Date: 8 Sep 2005 19:00:32 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com The ROKR is not a Apple branded thing. It doesn't even come close to the iPod nano in style. I guess iPod nano would be a good platform for a future iPod phone ... EventStudio 2.5 - http://www.EventHelix.com/EventStudio Model in Plain Text; Generate Call Flow Diagrams in PDF/Word ------------------------------ From: Dave Close Subject: Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 05:00:56 UTC Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California Panarat Thepgumpanat writes: > Asian governments have expressed security concerns about easy access > to detailed satellite images on the Internet, such as those used by > rescuers in New Orleans, saying the technology could endanger > sensitive sites. I guess they will have to do what the US did in Santa Monica during WW2: build covers over the Douglas Aircraft plant with phony images of houses, streets, and other structures painted on the cover. Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Politics is the business of getting dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 power and privilege without dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu possessing merit." - P. J. O'Rourke ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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 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. 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 V24 #411 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Sep 9 21:01:08 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id ACFDE151B8; Fri, 9 Sep 2005 21:01:06 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #412 Message-Id: <20050910010106.ACFDE151B8@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 21:01:06 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.5 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, ONE_TIME autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Fri, 9 Sep 2005 21:01:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 412 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Qwest Launches New Legal Fight Against City of Portland (Mike Rogoway) Qwest Executive's Lawyer Says Company Knew About Fraud (Associated Press) Telecom Update #496, September 9, 2005 (Angus TeleManagement Group) HP Demos Advanced TV Technology that Delivers Direct Access (Monty Solomon) Pilot Episode of New Fox Series 'Reunion' to Be Available (Monty Solomon) Checking In at Home, Even From Afar (Monty Solomon) NYC Phone Rates, was: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy (Danny Burstein) Re: Arizona Budget POTS Plans (John Levine) Re: Laptops Turn On, Tune In to Seattle Metro's New Wi-Fi (Michael Chance) Re: Laptops Turn On, Tune In to Seattle Metro's New Wi-Fi (John L. Shelton) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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: Mike Rogoway Subject: Qwest Lauches New Legal Fight Against Portland Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 19:16:58 by Mike Rogoway, The Oregonian The communications company sues the city, alleging the government system hurts competition. Qwest Communications International Inc. has opened a new front in its long-running legal battle with the city of Portland, suing to rein in the city's internal telecommunications system. Portland launched its network in 2002 to get around the rates Qwest and other telecom companies charge for phone lines and high-speed Internet connections. Portland's $14 million system links several city offices, and a few government agencies outside the city, to a network of fiber-optic cable that carries city phone calls and Internet traffic. The Integrated Regional Network Enterprise is known by its initials, IRNE, pronounced "Ernie." Portland says IRNE provides super-fast Internet connections the city couldn't otherwise afford. The city, however, estimates it has already spent $150,000 on legal fees defending the system against earlier challenges from Qwest and others. Qwest's latest suit, filed late last week in U.S. District Court, calls IRNE an illegal, government-sponsored competitor. Qwest complains that the city is abusing its regulatory authority by forcing telecom companies to connect IRNE to their networks in exchange for permission to use city-owned rights of way for the companies' private networks. "It provides, basically, unfair competition and makes it very, very difficult for the private sector to compete," said Judy Peppler, Qwest's Oregon president. Portland grants IRNE access to the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Port of Portland, Metro and other government agencies, which Peppler said robs telecom companies of large, lucrative customers. Qwest's suit doesn't seek to unhook IRNE or extract damages from the city. Instead, Qwest asks the court to stop Portland from forcing telecom companies to connect to IRNE. The suit also would require other governments to seek competitive bids before connecting to Portland's network. "We're just trying to get it back on a level playing field, an equal footing," Peppler said. Matt Lampe, the city's chief technology officer, said Qwest's accusations don't reflect the way IRNE actually works. Portland used to compel phone companies to open their networks to the city, he said, but no longer does so. And Lampe said the city collects just $100,000 in annual revenue from IRNE, so its agreements with other government agencies are too small to threaten Qwest. "It's almost like they're looking for a diabolical plot that isn't there," Lampe said. Portland and Qwest have been squabbling for years, largely over millions in franchise fees the phone company says Oregon cities don't have the authority to collect. A separate round of litigation over IRNE began a year ago with suits by Qwest's long-distance arm and a few smaller telecom companies. The Qwest division providing local phone service filed the latest suit last week, which may eventually be joined to the others. Qwest has at least three lawsuits pending against the city related to franchise fees or IRNE. City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees the city bureau responsible for telecom franchises, said Qwest is pushing back against Portland's innovative approach to telecommunications. "I think Portland has been a leader in certainly exploring a lot of options to provide broadband services," Saltzman said. "Maybe we're targeted by Qwest because of that." Mike Rogoway: 503-294-7699, mikerogoway@news.oregonian.com Copyright 2005 The Oregonian. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, The Oregonian. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Associated Press NewsWire Subject: Qwest Executive's Lawyer Says Others Involved in Fraud Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 19:19:58 -0500 The Associated Press Sep. 8, 2005 - An attorney for a former Qwest executive charged with fraud and money laundering said in a court filing that others in the company engaged in the same conduct alleged in the indictment, and that the company knew about it and authorized it. Marc B. Weisberg, a former Qwest Communications International Inc. senior vice president who oversaw mergers, acquisitions and investments, was indicted in February by a federal grand jury on eight counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. Prosecutors allege Weisberg made $2.9 million for himself, family members and friends between 1999 and 2001 by demanding that vendors offer them stock in return for doing business with the company. The government wants Weisberg to forfeit $2.9 million and other assets. Weisberg has pleaded innocent. His lawyer revealed what may be part of the defense strategy in a document filed in federal court on Sept. 1. "Weisberg will demonstrate that many individuals at Qwest engaged in conduct similar or perhaps even identical to his own, that Qwest knew of the conduct alleged in the indictment, and that Qwest authorized investments that the government now contends victimized Qwest," the filing said. The government began investigating the telecommunications giant for fraud starting in 2002. Last month, former chief financial officer Robin Szeliga pleaded guilty to one count of insider trading, becoming the highest-ranking one-time executive to admit wrongdoing. She will be sentenced Nov. 4. Her plea agreement recommends a term of 15 months to 21 months. She agreed to pay $125,000 in restitution and to cooperate with prosecutors. Thomas Hall pleaded guilty in September to falsifying documents and was sentenced to probation. Grant Graham has pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to wire fraud and is expected to receive probation. John Walker and Bryan Treadway were acquitted in April of charges including fraud and conspiracy. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 12:07:57 -0700 Subject: Telecom Update #496, September 9, 2005 From: Angus TeleManagement Group Reply-To: Angus TeleManagement Group ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 496: September 9, 2005 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** AVAYA: www.avaya.ca/en/ ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca/ ** ERICSSON: www.ericsson.ca ** MITEL NETWORKS: www.mitel.com/ ** NEC UNIFIED SOLUTIONS: www.necunifiedsolutions.com ** ROGERS TELECOM: www.rogers.com/solutions ** VONAGE CANADA: www.vonage.ca ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Bell Launches VoIP Push ** CRTC Invites Comment on Bell VoIP Tariffs ** Broadband Hearing in Whitehorse Today ** Cellcos Consider Number Portability Plan ** 800,000 Phones Still Out on Gulf Coast ** Respondents Added to Telcos' Court Appeal ** Rogers Wants Unbundled Loops From Remotes ** Bell Amends VoIP Tariff re 9-1-1 Calls ** Manitoba Tel CEO to Retire ** ITAC Study Says Canada Lags in ICT ** Vonage Activates Millionth Line ** Videotron Signs 75,000 Phone Subscribers ** New Anik Satellite Goes Aloft ** Ericsson Enables Remote Cellphone Upgrades ** Allstream Wins Via Rail Contract ** Telecom Hall of Fame Gala Grows ============================================================ BELL LAUNCHES VoIP PUSH: Bell Canada has announced its long-expected response to competition from cablecos and other suppliers of IP-based telephone service. The response involves two offerings: ** Digital Voice converts an existing standard phone line to VoIP using facilities in the Bell switching centre. Base price is $40/month, not including long distance. Additional numbers in 23 cities are $4 each. ** Digital Voice Lite is the new name for Bell's previously announced access-independent VoIP service, which requires a high-speed Internet connection. (See Telecom Update #475) Base price is $34/month for local calling and 1,200 minutes of province-wide long distance; Canada-U.S. LD is $5 extra. ** Digital Voice is available now in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas. It will be rolled out next in Montreal, and then elsewhere in Ontario and Quebec. Digital Voice Lite, launched last March in three Quebec cities, is now offered across Ontario and Quebec. CRTC INVITES COMMENT ON BELL VoIP TARIFFS: The CRTC gave interim approval to Bell's Digital Voice and Digital Voice Lite tariffs last week, but allowed the details to remain confidential until September 8. Parties now have 25 days to comment. www.crtc.gc.ca/8740/eng/2005/b2/tn6899.zip www.crtc.gc.ca/8740/eng/2005/b2/tn6889.doc ** Bell Canada has asked the Commission to allow it to charge different prices for Digital Voice in Ontario and Quebec. In Telecom Public Notice 2005-13, the CRTC asks for comment on whether it should approve that aspect of the tariff. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2005/pt2005-13.htm ** In Public Notice 2005-9, the CRTC launched a public discussion of Bell's original Digital Voice tariff (now rebranded Digital Voice Lite), which is still ongoing. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8661/c12_200507973.htm BROADBAND HEARING IN WHITEHORSE TODAY: The Telecom Policy Review panel is holding a forum on broadband access today in Whitehorse, Yukon, to be followed by an online discussion until September 16. To view presenters' slides or participate in the online discussion, register at the panel's website. www.telecomreview.ca/epic/internet/intprp-gecrt.nsf/en/h_rx00038e.html#webcast CELLCOS CONSIDER NUMBER PORTABILITY PLAN: The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association says that the Wireless Number Portability Task Force is now considering a draft plan for wireless number portability prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The Task Force aims to complete its review and issue guidelines by the end of the month. 800,000 PHONES STILL OUT ON GULF COAST: BellSouth says it has restored service to about half of the 1.7 million phone lines that were cut off during Hurricane Katrina. The company estimates the total cost of repairing its network will be US$400 million to $600 million. ** Wireline, wireless, and Internet services have been disrupted; in New Orleans, satellite phones provided the only reliable means of communications. RESPONDENTS ADDED TO TELCOS' COURT APPEAL: On instructions from the Federal Court, the telcos that want to appeal the CRTC's VoIP decision (see Telecom Update #486) have added Rogers, Shaw, Videotron, Cogeco, EastLink, the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association, MTS Allstream, and ARCH (a legal resource centre for persons with disabilities) as respondents to their application. The respondents may now file opposing arguments. ROGERS WANTS UNBUNDLED LOOPS FROM REMOTES: Rogers Telecom has asked the CRTC to order Bell Canada to make unbundled loops available in areas served by remote switches. Rogers says Bell is refusing to install the necessary equipment, resulting in up to nine months' delay in Rogers' ability to offer service in new areas. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/r29_200510497.htm BELL AMENDS VoIP TARIFF RE 9-1-1 CALLS: Bell Canada has amended the tariff for its Managed IP Telephony service (see Telecom Update #442) to spell out limitations on how 9-1-1 calls are handled. www.crtc.gc.ca/8740/eng/2005/B2.htm#200510190 MANITOBA TEL CEO TO RETIRE: Bill Fraser plans to retire as CEO of Manitoba Telecom next year; the telco has begun a search for a successor. Fraser led MTS in its purchase of Allstream last year, which transformed the telco into Canada's third-largest national carrier. ITAC STUDY SAYS CANADA LAGS IN ICT: A study prepared for the Information Technology Association of Canada finds that the average investment per worker in Information and Communications Technology in 2003 was US$1,332 in Canada, less than half of the U.S. figure. VONAGE ACTIVATES MILLIONTH LINE: Internet telephony provider Vonage Holdings says it has more than one million subscribers in North America. Its Canadian subscriber total has not been made public. VIDEOTRON SIGNS 75,000 PHONE SUBSCRIBERS: Videotron Ltee says it signed its 75,000th cable telephone subscriber during August. The cableco aims to provide 349,000 phone lines customers by the end of next year. NEW ANIK SATELLITE GOES ALOFT: Telesat Canada's Anik F1R satellite has been successfully launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It will provide telecom and broadcasting services, including direct-to-home satellite television, and enhanced global positioning for aviation use in Canada and the U.S. ERICSSON ENABLES REMOTE CELLPHONE UPGRADES: Rogers Wireless is the first Canadian cellco, and one of the first in the world, to provide automatic remote configuration and software updates to its customers' cellphones, using technology from Ericsson. ALLSTREAM WINS VIA RAIL CONTRACT: Allstream has signed a three-year contract with Via Rail Canada to provide voice and data services to call centres, train stations, and administrative offices. TELECOM HALL OF FAME GALA GROWS: The dinner and celebration announcing the first laureates in Canada's new Telecommunications Hall of Fame has been moved to a larger hall in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The gala will be held Monday October 17, as part of Telemanagement Live, Canada's premier business telecom and networking event. ** For more information, or to register, go to www.telemanagementlive.com. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-mail ianangus@angustel.ca and jriddell@angustel.ca =========================================================== 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 late Friday afternoon each 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 2005 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail jriddell@angustel.ca. 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: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 19:08:13 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: HP Demos Advanced TV Technology that Delivers Direct Access HP Demos Advanced TV Technology that Delivers Direct Access to Multimedia PC Content; Company Also Ships Digital Entertainment Centers and New Line of TVs in Time for Holiday Buying Season - Sep 9, 2005 07:45 AM (BusinessWire) INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 2005--HP (NYSE:HPQ) (Nasdaq:HPQ) today demonstrated advanced digital media technology for its high-definition televisions (HDTVs) that will give people direct access to digital content -- from movies to photos to music to personal videos -- that's currently stored on their PCs. The company is also shipping a new line of microdisplay, plasma and LCD TVs as well as its high-definition Digital Entertainment Centers in time for holiday shopping. Showcased this week at the Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) tradeshow and slated for distribution next summer, the advanced digital media technology will enable HP HDTVs to communicate with all PC devices on a home network, including HP Digital Entertainment Centers. HP HDTVs that ship with this functionality will also contain other advancements that will provide consumers with new ways to access entertainment. These future televisions will provide consumers with multimedia services over the Internet -- directly via their HP advanced digital media HDTV. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51674658 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 19:08:13 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Pilot Episode of New Fox Series 'Reunion' to Be Available Pilot Episode of New Fox Series 'Reunion' to Be Available for Viewing On-Demand Exclusively on AOL.com - Sep 9, 2005 10:30 AM (BusinessWire) NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 2005--The full pilot episode of FOX's much-anticipated new series "Reunion" from Warner Bros. Television will be available for viewing free and on-demand via the AOL.com website ( http://www.aol.com ) beginning Monday, Sept. 12. It will be the first time that FOX has made an episode available for viewing online in its entirety via a non-FOX website. This collaboration between FOX, AOL and Warner Bros. Television will extend to future episodes, with unique and exclusive elements from the show launching on AOL.com each week. "Reunion," which premiered on FOX Thursday, Sept. 8 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), marks a groundbreaking concept in series television as it chronicles the lives of a group of six friends over the course of 20 years - all in just one season. The pilot episode will be available for viewing on-demand through AOL Television at http://www.aol.com/reunion from Sept. 12-14, and visitors can also view exclusive weekly previews of future episodes. In cooperation with AOL Music ( http://www.aolmusic.com ), the site will allow visitors to listen to and purchase music featured in each episode, as well as a selection of some of the most memorable songs from the past 20 years. Visitors will also be able to enjoy a retrospective of pop culture highlights from the past two decades. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51678545 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 14:06:42 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Checking In at Home, Even From Afar By JOHN R. QUAIN For some, the problem with being on the road is the anxiety that things might be amiss at home. Are the cats behaving? Is the baby sitter keeping the peace? Are interlopers helping themselves to your Scotch -- and your stereo? Some relatively simple technology can ease that angst. Several network video cameras allow owners to monitor the home front remotely on the Web. The cameras offer much better video quality than in the past, come in wireless versions that make installation simpler, and allow you to zoom in and scan a room. Some models, using motion and heat sensors, can alert you every time someone walks through a room. And there are even ways to look in by cellphone. Most systems can be installed by the buyer, and prices range from about $100 to $1,300, depending on camera quality and system abilities. Unlike the Webcams commonly used to do video chats online, these cameras do not have to be connected to a computer, and they can be monitored from any device connected to the Internet. But they are far from inconspicuous and require an always-on high-speed Internet connection and a home network or access point to make the connection. The simplest offerings are stand-alone video cameras with built-in Web servers. I experimented with three such models, the $230 Linksys WVC54G Wireless-G Internet video camera and two more advanced $1,000 cameras, the Panasonic BB-HCM371A network camera and the D-Link DCS-6620G Wireless Internet camera. The latter two are aimed more at small businesses - the Panasonic model even includes a splash guard for outdoor installations - but both are comfortable at home. The Linksys model is typical of cameras in its price range and has a setup routine that is similar to the other models that I tried. The video camera has a built-in Web server, for example, that allows it to connect to the Internet without relying on a computer. To set up the camera initially, you run a software program on your PC and connect the camera to your home network with an Ethernet cable. A Windows program guides users through the process, although neophytes may struggle a bit with the more arcane settings. Most homeowners who use a Wi-Fi network will also have to set their network router to open a door in their security firewall so the camera's video can be seen over the Internet. After all the information is loaded into the camera, it can be disconnected from the Ethernet cable and plugged into any power outlet within about 150 feet of the Wi-Fi network. (The actual distance depends on possible interference, like steel-reinforced walls.) I connected the camera to a power outlet in my living room. Within seconds, the Linksys camera had made the connection to my wireless network, and I could record video to my PC or take snapshots. Gaining access to the camera over the Internet from another computer, however, requires some adroit software. For security reasons, most Internet service providers regularly change the numerical address (the so-called I.P. address) of devices online. So, to see the video feed from a network camera over the Internet, some kind of service or software is needed to keep track of the camera's address changes. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/technology/circuits/08basics.html?ex=1283832000&en=dd801f6e916a2e95&ei=5090 ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: NYC Phone Rates, was: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 18:50:40 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Wesrock@aol.com writes: > Has anything but measured service every been available in New York, > where the Honeymooners was set? In the 1950s through the early 1960s, residential consumers in NYC were offered two plans: a) a true flat rate service, but this only applied to calls in your very local neighborhood. So if you were calling the drugstore 1/2 mile away you were probably in the zone, but calling the movie theater three miles down the blvd to get its schedule cost you per minute. b) An untimed, but charged per call, rate, that covered a reasonably decent area. When this was first set up (at least in the early 1960s, can't say for earlier) you had an allowance of 75 "message units" in your base charge. Above those 75 calls you paid an additional 5 cents or so, untimed. Note that the untimed message unit did NOT give you the entire five boroughs, It let you call your own borough and, depending on your location, about half the rest of the city and some suburban areas. For most people and most calls (certainly not all) that was close enough. Bit by bit the 75 message unit allowace got cut down, so nowadays there's nothing there there. On the slight plus side back in the 1970s the "local area" for untimed calls expanded to the entire city. (Nowadays a bunch of very confusing options are available through Verizon and the various CLECS, cablecos, and other folk). -- Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: 9 Sep 2005 20:21:01 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Arizona Budget POTS Plans Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > And so, finally on to the question, does anyone know if Qwest offers a > real low cost (perhaps metered) service for POTS in the 480 area? ... > The Qwest web site is no help; it only talks about premium plans. The Qwest web site is quite helpful if you look on their tariff server. It says that low use resi service is $8.50/month plus 20 cents per call (plus the usual taxes and fees.) There appears to be a one-time charge of $10 to switch from flat rate to low use. IT is definitely available in Phoenix. By comparison. flat rate is $13.18, so it's not that much cheaper. When the Qwest rep denies that it's available, the USOC order code is RMN. R's, John ------------------------------ From: Michael Chance Subject: Re: Laptops Turn On, Tune In to Seattle Metro's New Wi-Fi Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Fri, 09 Sep 2005 23:41:42 GMT In article , aljon@stny.rr.com says: > I wish more cities would get gutsy and fight the local Teleco > incumbent (it seems that they and the cable provider think they "own" > connection to the Internet) Uh, because maybe they *do* own the connection to the Internet? At least the physical wires and switches. > to put FREE Wi-FI every where (especially > on busses with the high cost of fuel) they want. TANSTAAFL Michael Chance ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Sep 2005 16:46:25 -0700 From: John L. Shelton Subject: Re: Laptops Turn On, Tune in to Seattle Metro's New WiFi > John, it sounds to me you are either a paid mouth piece (lobbyist) for > the fixed line providers (LEC or cable company), or employed by > Qworst, I'm sorry, I mean Qwest. I am an unpaid mouthpiece for free enterprise. I am currently on long-term medical leave from a NON telecom company. It is wrong for SBC to achieve monopoly via political maneuvering, and it is wrong for the local government to build a tax-subsidized monopoly. The only fair thing to do is let all interested parties offer service. If no one finds it economical to do so, that doesn't imply a government mandate. It might be nice if we all had original 17th century oil paintings in our houses, but "nice" doesn't cut it. One wouldn't expect government dollars to pay for that (or perhaps we would -- gee, 17th century oil-paintings are "art" and deserve government museums, but Elvis Presley is not art, so he can pitch his music commercially ...) Once the government has run off all competition by use of subsidies, who will keep their efforts economical? Will it work like schools, roads, and the mail, where there is no fraud, waste, or controversy? Give me a break. When government is the dominant player, things get broken. Do you really trust the people who won't patch potholes or widen the highways, yet take billions in road-maintenance money, to provide you with better and better internet connections "for free?" With SBC competing against others, they have to offer better service to earn your repeat business. With the city, you wind up with no choice. I understand you think SBC and others can still compete. Just like private schools compete with public. But it's not real competition, when the public schools have a $10k/student subsidy. And it won't be the same with wireless, either. =John= john@jshelton.com ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #412 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Sep 10 18:27:10 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id ADC65150E8; Sat, 10 Sep 2005 18:27:09 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V24 #413 Message-Id: <20050910222709.ADC65150E8@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 18:27:09 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-4.4 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sat, 10 Sep 2005 18:27:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 413 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Wireless Tech to be Deployed for Katrina (Matthew Fordahl) Victims Of Hurricane Katrina (news@amazon.com) Cingular, Sprint, Others Give Katrina Victims Help on Phone Bills (Reuters) Yahoo Ordered by China to Reveal Reporter's E-Mail (Elaine Kurtenbach) New Backpack Puts Juice in Power Walking (Randolph Schmid) Katrina May Derail, Tarnish Bush's Presidency (Mark Silva) Re: Laptops Turn On, Tune in to Seattle Metro's WiFi (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Arizona Budget POTS Plans (Joseph) Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security (Jim Burks) Re: Verizon V710 Settlement (Joseph) Re: Qwest Lauches New Legal Fight Against Portland (Tony P.) Last Laugh! Fertility Doctor's Lies on Net Get Him Sued (Reuters NewsWire) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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: Matthew Fordahl Subject: Wireless Tech to be Deployed For Katrina Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 13:51:47 -0500 By MATTHEW FORDAHL, AP Technology Writer A high-speed wireless networking technology that's still being tested around the world will be deployed at an evacuation shelter and other spots on the U.S. Gulf Coast hit by Hurricane Katrina. The technology called WiMax will bring the Internet to remote areas where the existing infrastructure has been destroyed or never existed. The network will be used for Internet telephone service and information exchange. Intel Corp., a major WiMax supporter and maker of chips, shipped equipment Thursday to San Antonio's decommissioned Kelly Air Force Base where thousands of evacuees are being taken. The gear is expected to arrive on Friday. A group of wireless Internet providers called Part-15.org is working with the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to deploy Wi-Fi hotspots at the shelter and areas hit by the storm. But those hotspots need to connect to the wider Internet to be most useful -- and that's where WiMax comes into play, said Nigel Ballard, a manager Intel's state and local government unit. "They were missing a very vital -- and some would say expensive -- piece of the jigsaw, and that's the ability to put up a wireless solution to actually get the signal in and out of a fairly substantial Air Force base," he said. The WiMax equipment will be able to handle carry signals about 15 miles to what's known as a Point of Presence on the Internet. The bandwidth both upstream and downstream is expected to be about 45 megabits per second -- 30 times the speed of a standard 1.5 megabit per second DSL connection. Similar efforts involving WiMax are underway in the disaster area as well, and Intel has donated equipment for use in other parts of the Gulf Coast. WiMax, short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, has been mentioned as a possible alternative to cable modem and Digital Subscriber Line services offered by cable and telephone companies. It's also touted as a tool to connect emerging markets to the Internet. But its potential in the United States has been clouded by spectrum questions. The 3.5-gigahertz band that's being used in tests elsewhere has been reserved for the military in the U.S. In addition, no WiMax equipment has been certified for compliance with the WiMax standard that was set just last year. For the disaster recovery, the airwaves are not a problem, Ballard said. The Federal Communications Commission granted an emergency license for the spectrum use on Thursday. On the Net: Part-15.org: http://www.part-15.org/emergencyrelief/katrina.html Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ Subject: Help For Victims Of Katrina From Red Cross and Amazon.com From: news@amazon.com Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 22:30:46 CEST Victims of Hurricane Katrina are attempting to recover from the massive storm. American Red Cross volunteers have been deployed to the hardest hit areas of Katrina.s destruction, supplying hundreds of thousands of victims left homeless with critical necessities. By making a financial donation to support hurricane relief efforts, the Red Cross can provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Privacy Notice: If your donation is $250 or more, Amazon.com will provide your name, credit card billing address, and donation amount to the American Red Cross, and the American Red Cross will provide you with a receipt for your donation. Other than this, Amazon.com will not share information about you with the American Red Cross. Amazon.com has waived all customary Honor System fees associated with your contributions to the Red Cross. We are grateful for the continued generosity of Amazon.com customers at this time of great need. Thank you in advance for your support. Sincerely, Amazon.com Customer Services. ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Cingular, Sprint, Others Give Katrina Victims Phone Bill Help Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 16:00:12 -0500 Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier, has said it would give customers in the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina discounts on their cell phone bills, including roaming charges and text messages. Customers in the New Orleans and Biloxi, Mississippi, markets will receive a one-time 50 percent credit on their monthly fee and will not be charged for roaming, extra minutes, long-distance or text messaging from late August through September 30, according to a September 8 letter made available on Friday. Cingular's subscribers in the markets of Mobile, Alabama, Jackson, Mississippi, Baton Rouge and Lafayette, Louisiana, will get a one-time 25 percent discount on their monthly charge as well as unspecified discounts on roaming and text messages. The company, a joint venture of BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc., said the expiration date for prepaid customers will be extended to October 31 and will replace any that expired since August 29. The Federal Communications Commission had expressed concerns that customers displaced by the hurricane would have their cell phones shut off because they had not paid their bills since they had been evacuated. The agency sought details on what carriers were doing. Cingular told the FCC the carrier would not shut off customers in the affected areas for 30 days and would stop collection efforts in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The company declined to say what impact, if any, the policies would have on its revenue. Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 carrier, said it was working on a case-by-case basis with customers, would not cut them off and had stopped bill collections. The company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc. Sprint Nextel, the No. 3 wireless carrier, said it would give a month of free wireless service to subscribers in the hardest hit areas and would also give free long-distance, extra minutes, roaming and text messaging. Sprint also said in its own letter to the FCC that it would not cut off customers and has stopped trying to collect on unpaid bills. It did not reveal how long it would do so. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Elaine Kurtenbach Subject: Yahoo Ordered by Chinese Government to Share Reporter's E-Mail Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 16:01:39 -0500 By ELAINE KURTENBACH, AP Business Writer Yahoo had to comply with a demand by Chinese authorities to provide information about a personal e-mail of a journalist who was later convicted under state secrecy laws and sentenced to 10 years in prison, the company's co-founder Jerry Yang said Saturday. Yang, responding to questions during an Internet forum in this eastern Chinese resort city, said he could not discuss the details of the case involving Shi Tao, a former writer for the financial publication Contemporary Business News. Overseas-based human rights groups disclosed days earlier that Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd., part of Yahoo's global network, provided e-mail account information that helped lead to Shi's conviction. Yahoo earlier defended its move, saying it was obliged to comply with Chinese laws and regulations. The demand for the information was a "legal order" and Yahoo gets such requests from law enforcement agencies all the time, and not just in China, Yang told the forum. But he added, "I cannot talk about the details of this case." Other Chinese journalists have f