From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Mar 13 14:34:13 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 336F215759; Mon, 13 Mar 2006 14:34:13 -0500 (EST) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #101 Message-Id: <20060313193413.336F215759@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 14:34:13 -0500 (EST) 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=-3.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 13 Mar 2006 14:35:00 EST Volume 25 : Issue 101 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Tornado Damage in Kansas, Elsewhere (John O'Connor) Microsoft Takes on Yahoo and Google for Ad Dollars (D. Wakabayuke) Cellular-News for Monday 13th March 2006 (Cellular-News) TelecomDirect News Daily Update - March 13, 2006 (telecomdirect_daily) Telecom Mergers Put Cable on Defensive (USTelecom dailyLead) Re: Gas Refrigerator (jsw) Re: Gas Refrigerator Lisa Hancock) Re: 208/240V, was: 25 Hz Power (Neal McLain) Re: 208/240V, was: 25 Hz Power (William Warren) Re: Keokuk Dam & 25Hz Power (John McHarry) Re: Keokuk Dam & 25Hz Power (John Hines) Re: 3 Phase Power (John McHarry) Re: 25 Hz Power (John McHarry) Re: 25 Hz power (harold@hallikainen.com) Re: Bell System Phone Label Code? (Allen Newman) Re: Internet and Civil Liberties? (Matt Simpson) 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: John O'Connor Subject: Tornado Damage in Kansas, Elsewhere Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 12:18:03 -0600 Tornadoes Rip Across Midwest, Killing 10 By JOHN O'CONNOR, Associated Press Writer Swarms of tornadoes killed at least 10 people across the Midwest, shut down the University of Kansas and caused so much damage in Springfield that the mayor compared it to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The violent weather started during the weekend with a line of storms that spawned tornadoes and downpours from the southern Plains to the Ohio Valley. On Monday, a second line of storms raked the region, with rain, hail and fierce wind tearing up trees and homes from Kansas through Indiana. To the northwest, the vast weather system pulled cold air in Canada, generating snowstorms that cut off power to thousands and shut down schools in South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Illinois' capital was hit hard twice in 24 hours, first by a tornado and then strong wind early Monday that blew debris through the city. Power lines were down across Springfield, trees uprooted and windows blown out. "It's just amazing how devastating it is," Mayor Tim Davlin said Monday after daylight let him see the extent of damage. "It looks like the pictures we saw a couple months ago after Katrina." The tornado that struck Springfield on Sunday evening was one of about 20 that broke out along a 400-mile patch across Missouri and Illinois, National Weather Service meteorologist Ed Shimon said Monday. Most major roads into the city were closed, and police searched damaged homes and businesses for people who could be trapped, said city spokesman Ernie Slottag. At least 24 people were treated for minor injuries. Two hotels looked like they were still under construction, with missing roofs and blown-out windows. A nearby Wal-Mart store had also lost its roof. Even the five-story Illinois Emergency Management Agency building was damaged, its roof partly torn off and the top floor flooded, said IEMA spokeswoman Patti Thompson. The Capitol lost two windows, and the governor told nonessential state employees in Springfield they weren't required to report to work Monday. Missouri and Kansas were also hit hard by the weekend storms, with at least nine people killed and hundreds of homes and businesses destroyed or damaged. Hail as big as softballs pounded parts of the area. Bobby Ritcheson, 23, said he watched as a neighbor was killed south of Sedalia, Mo. "The trailer came down right on top of her," Ritcheson said. Homes were destroyed along a path of more than 20 miles south of St. Louis, officials said. At the University of Kansas, where 60 percent of the buildings were damaged by weekend storms, Provost David Shulenberger said classes were canceled Monday because of safety concerns about debris falling from roofs. The Lawrence campus was littered with trees, roof tiles and window glass. Two trees fell through Rhonda Burns' mobile home in Lawrence early Sunday. "If the wind had shifted that tree just a few inches, I wouldn't be talking to you," she said. Tornadoes also destroyed dozens of homes Sunday in Oklahoma and Arkansas. "It was over before you knew it," said Greg Kospar, 41, of Bentonville, Ark. "The house is gone." In Illinois, the tornado that struck Springfield on Sunday had made a two-hour pass through central Illinois. The Chicago area was struck by high wind, with gusts to 70 mph in suburban Tinley Park, and roofs were blown off apartment buildings in suburban Bridgeview. Localized flooding was reported in the Chicago and Quad Cities areas. Thousands of people were without power in the state Monday morning, including about 15,000 in the Springfield area, down from about 65,000 at the height of the storms, Thompson said. Davlin said his brother's restaurant and bar in the nearby town of Jerome was heavily damaged. "I had to call him and tell him that his roof was four buildings away," said the mayor, whose brother was out of town during the storm. The vast weather system arose as moist air from the Gulf of Mexico collided with cold Canadian air, said Philip Schumacher of the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, S.D. The system dumped 20 inches of snow in parts of western South Dakota and knocked out power and closed schools as it moved into Minnesota and Wisconsin. "It is a sign that spring is coming," said Schumacher. "You start getting stronger low-pressure systems, and they're able to bring in stronger south winds, which tend to bring up more moisture." Missouri authorities reported nine people killed, including four whose bodies were found in the rubble of homes near the town of Renick. Another storm victim was found in Indiana, where several people had to be rescued from cars stalled in rapidly rising water. Flood warnings were posted Monday for large areas of southern and central Indiana. Kansas was more fortunate, with damage mostly in the north central part of the state, around the Lawrence and the university area. In the Independence, KS area, which serves as a 'central command point' for sheriff and other emergency personnel in the rural s.e. area of the state officials noted , "we were quite lucky that other than rain and very strong winds and some hail, most of storm passed on by us. Associated Press reporters F.N. D'Alessio in Chicago, Noah Trister in Bentonville, Ark., David Lieb in Sedalia, Mo., Garance Burke and Margaret Stafford in Kansas City, John Milburn in Lawrence, Kan., and Jim Salter in St. Louis contributed to this report. Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news and headlines from Associated Press, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Daisuke Wakabayashi Subject: Microsoft Takes on Yahoo and Google for Ad Dollars Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 12:20:57 -0600 By Daisuke Wakabayashi Microsoft Corp.'s top saleswoman for Web advertising, Joanne Bradford, spent her first few years on the job secretly wondering if the software giant was serious about cashing in on the Internet. When she joined Microsoft in 2001, the company lacked a search engine of its own and had no clear Web advertising strategy. Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. made multibillion-dollar businesses of search-related advertising while Microsoft waited. "I wasn't sure the first couple of years that we were here to stay," said Bradford, Microsoft's corporate vice president for global sales and marketing. "I thank Yahoo and Google for proving that a software company can be a media company and a media company can be a software company." These days, Microsoft is very serious about grabbing a larger piece of the $15 billion U.S. market for Internet advertising with a revamped search engine and a new system called adCenter to sell pay-per-click ads across the company's Web content and services. Microsoft plans to overhaul its Web presence, consolidating e-mail, instant messaging, online PC security and search at its Windows Live site along with new offerings like an online marketplace in order to increase traffic and create valuable space for advertisers. However, the company faces an uphill climb. Microsoft's MSN Internet unit generated $1.4 billion in online advertising revenue in its past fiscal year, while Google pulled in $6 billion in sales and Yahoo racked up $4.6 billion in 2005. The company's strategic push combined with a steadily growing Internet advertising market -- expected to reach $26 billion in 2009, according to Forrester Research -- should boost Microsoft's online advertising sales. "I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft could double (its online advertising revenue) in three to five years," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst at independent research firm Directions on Microsoft based in Kirkland, Washington. SEARCH ENGINE TUNE-UP Analysts caution Microsoft trails Google and Yahoo in producing relevant results from its search engine and unless it can close that gap, it will be difficult to gain market share in search, the largest segment for online advertising. Like Google and Yahoo, Microsoft lets advertisers, through adCenter, bid how much they will pay each time a user clicks on their ad. Until recently, all the ads on Microsoft's search service were sold by Yahoo. Yahoo still sells three-quarters of Microsoft's paid search ads, while the company tests adCenter in the United States. It plans a full switch to adCenter in the next few months. Microsoft officials said adCenter provides advertisers with demographic data to better target customers with projections about the search user's age, sex and location. Eventually, the company wants to integrate projections about the user's wealth, preferences and online behavior patterns. Backed by registration information obtained from 230 million e-mail accounts and 205 million instant messaging users, Microsoft said that database allows it to provide more accurate projections than Google or Yahoo. Microsoft envisions adCenter to one day be a one-stop shop for advertisers to gather information then buy ads on search results, Microsoft-related sites and services, non-Microsoft sites, mobile phone software or even online Xbox video games. "We're really starting to see Microsoft gear up. Of course, the company was asleep at the wheel for a long time," said independent search engine analyst Chris Winfield. One major hurdle is that ads placed on Microsoft's search results reach only a fraction of those from Google and Yahoo. Google finished January with 48 percent of the U.S. search market, trailed by Yahoo at 22 percent and MSN at 11 percent, according to Nielsen//Net Ratings. Microsoft stressed that online advertising is not a zero-sum game. "The online advertising market is growing at such a rapid pace and we want to participate in some of that," Microsoft's Bradford said. "This isn't a winner-take-all proposition." Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more headline news from Reuters, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Monday 13th March 2006 Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 07:47:52 -0600 From: Cellular-news Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com [[3G News]] China Homegrown 3G Standard To Test In Hong Kong http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16466.php A small trial network of China's homegrown third-generation mobile phone standard will be set up in Hong Kong soon, according to a Hong Kong government-backed wireless industry association. ... Foreign Ownership Cost DiGi.Com Malaysia 3G License-Paper http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16474.php KUALA LUMPUR (AP)--Malaysia's No. 3 mobile phone operator, DiGi.Com, failed to win a lucrative third-generation mobile phone license because it is foreign-owned, a newspaper reported Sunday, citing the country's communications minister. ... Romanian 3G Spectrum Dispute Solved http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16476.php A radio spectrum dispute between Vodafone and RomTelecom in Romania has been resolved with RomTelecom shutting down trial networks which used 3G spectrum allocated to Vodafone. RomTelecom had been granted a temporary license to use the spectrum so th... Vodafone Deploys HSDPA in Portugal http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16487.php Vodafone Portugal says that it has begun the roll-out of HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) capability on its 3G network. At this stage, HSDPA technology access is available to a selected group of individual and business customers in Lisbon, C... [[Financial News]] Australia's Telstra To Expand Ties With Asia: CEO http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16464.php Australia's Telstra will continue to look at opportunities to expand its ties with Asia, Chief Executive Solomon Trujillo said Friday. ... India Spice Telecom: Telekom Malaysia Buys 49% Stake http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16465.php Telekom Malaysia has taken a 49% stake in India's Spice Telecom, said a senior executive of the mid-sized mobile phone company Friday. ... TDC: Polish Polkomtel Shareholders Accept Sale Offer http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16468.php Danish telecommunications group TDC, Friday said the Polish shareholders in Polkomtel has accepted its offer to sell 76% of its holding in the Polish mobile telecommunications operator. ... Telemar posts US$516mn profit, up 48% http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16472.php Brazilian telecoms group Telemar posted profits of 1.11bn reais (US$516mn) for 2005, up 48% compared to 2004, the company said in its earnings statement. ... Vietnamese Operators Plan Stock Floatation http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16486.php Vietnam's VinaPhone and MobiFone plan to equitise and issue shares on the stock market before year's end, according to parent firm Viet Nam Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT). VinaPhone assets, in terms of user subscriptions, reached US$... [[Handsets News]] Cingular, T-Mobile Confirm Component Issues With Razr http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16469.php Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile USA confirmed they had pulled a number of Motorola Razrs because they were inadvertently disconnecting phone calls. ... Kyocera expects 50% handset revenue growth in 2006 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16470.php US CDMA mobile handset manufacturer Kyocera Wireless aims to grow its sales in Brazil by 50% in 2006 compared to 2005, Fabio Castanheira, Kyocera's general manager in Brazil, told BNamericas. ... LG expects 80% jump in handset sales in 2006 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16471.php The Brazilian division of South Korean electronics colossus LG expects to record an 80% jump in mobile phone sales to 6.3 million units in 2006 from 3.5 million in 2005, LG announced at the Telexpo in São Paulo. ... Linux And Microsoft To Overtake Symbian - report http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16478.php At 3GSM in Barcelona, Symbian had announced that shipments of its mobile operating system almost tripled from 14.4 million units in 2004 to 33.9 million units in 2005, the fourth consecutive year that Symbian enjoyed a growth rate in excess of 100%. ... Nokia Opens Indian Handset Factory http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16481.php Nokia has inaugurated its new manufacturing facility in Sriperumbudur, Chennai, India. The manufacturing facility in Chennai is Nokia's fifteenth manufacturing facility globally. Nokia is the only company in India whose facility manufactures both mob... [[Messaging News]] RIM Upgrades BlackBerry Servers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16483.php Research In Motion (RIM) has announced the immediate availability of BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4.1 and BlackBerry Enterprise Server -- Small Business Edition v4.1 for Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino. Incorporating feedback from thousands o... [[Network Operators News]] Resolving Network Problems In Guyana http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16480.php Guyana Telephone & Telegraph has responded to local media complaints about congestion on their GSM network and published a program to aleviate the situation as soon as possible. For its part, GT&T has responded to what it felt were a number of inaccu... Qtel Gets New HQ Building http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16482.php Qatar's Prime Minister, H.H Sheikh Abdullah Bin Khalifa Al Thani, officially opened Qtel's new headquarters building. The 27 storey Qtel tower is fitted with IP based telephony, WiFi on every floor and advanced high-speed video conferencing facilitie... Turkcell Opens New R&D Center http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16485.php Turkeys Turkcell has opened a new R&D Center, which brings together all of the Company's research and development operations in a single location. Over 260 engineers dedicated to developing mobile communications technologies and services will staff t... [[Offbeat News]] Greek Wiretaps Probe Summons Senior Ericsson Official http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16467.php ATHENS (AP)--A parliament committee probing the wiretapping of Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis and top officials during the Athens Olympics summoned a senior Ericsson (ERICY) executive Friday to testify. ... British Workers Encouraged To "Switch Off" From Work http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16479.php British workers have been warned not to allow mobile technology to harm their work-life balance at the launch of a new public-private sector business group, led by Orange. The Orange Future Enterprise Coalition (OFEC) has brought together government,... [[Personnel News]] Gent To Quit As Vodafone Life President - Breaking Views http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16475.php Vodafone Group's Life President Chris Gent is to step down, Web site BreakingViews.com said Sunday. ... [[Regulatory News]] Subtel: Industry should concentrate on mobile, broadband, VAS http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16473.php Chile's telecommunications sector is expected to have a positive year and the industry should concentrate in areas of growth such as mobile, broadband and value-added services, local newspaper Diario Financiero quoted Chile's telecoms regulator (Subt... New Licenses for Fixed and Mobile Services in Saudi Arabia http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16484.php Saudi Arabia's Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has announced plans for liberalising the telecoms market in the Arab nation. The CITC has employed consultants, Arthur D. Little to assist it in a series of public consultatio... [[Reports News]] New Report Into Global Telecoms Development http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16477.php Although there has been global progress in improving access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), poor countries still lag behind in making ICT applications commonplace in governments, schools and business, says the World Bank in a new... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 11:39:01 -0500 From: telecomdirect_daily Subject: TelecomDirect News Daily Update - Monday, March 13, 2006 Reply-To: telecomdirect_daily-owner@telecomdirectnews.com ******************************** PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents The TelecomDirect News Daily Update For March 13, 2006 ******************************** Planning a Hydrogen-Powered Phone http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/100/17051?11228 Clean, efficient hydrogen has long been eyed as a convenient and long lasting fuel. Now, chemists at UCLA and the University of Michigan are reporting an advance toward the goal of phones and other mobile devices that run on hydrogen rather than conventional batteries. While the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that practical ... Rostelecom Sells 90% Stake in RTK-Sibir http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/105/17048?11228 Russia's fixed-line incumbent, Rostelecom, has sold its 90% stake in RTK-Sibir, which operates in the Krasnoyarsk region in Siberia, to TeleMir, which now own 100% of the company. Significance: With its monopoly of the fixed-line, long-distance market soon to be eroded following the liberalisation of the sector in 2005, Rostelecom has... Vodafone's Global Strategy Under the Spotlight http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17044?11228 Mobile giant Vodafone saw fresh worries over the weekend (11/12 March) as its former chief executive, Chris Gent, resigned from his post as life president, and company chairman Ian MacLaurin was forced to publicly declare his support for embattled chief executive Arun Sarin. Gent, who transformed the company from a small British firm to... MIMO Clears Another Hurdle http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17043?11228 The next, fast generation of Wi-Fi using MIMO (multiple-input, multiple output) technology reached a major standardization milestone today. The IEEE working group gave its tentative approval to a draft 1.0 standard for the much-discussed 802.11n specification. Bill McFarland, chief technology officer with Atheros Communications, says... RIM in Voice 'Push' http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/100/17041?11228 Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM - message board; Toronto: RIM) says it has bought Ascendent Systems , a move the handheld device vendor says will give it the capability to "push" voice calls from users' corporate desk phones to their wireless -- or other wireline -- devices. The acquisition comes as RIM introduces new... France Telecom Joins Million-Man VoIP Club http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17038?11228 France Telecom claims to have zoomed passed the million-customer mark in residential voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), making it one of what still is only a handful of companies in the world that can claim such a customer base. The carrier now says it's signing new VoIP customers in five countries at the rate of 5,000 per day. France... Poll: Merger Won't Spur Competition http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17033?11228 Nearly three fourths of Light Readers polled this week say that the combination of AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T - message board) and BellSouth Corp. (NYSE: BLS - message board) will not improve competition in the communications industry. (See Ma Bell Is Back!.) Shortly after the mother of all mega-mergers was announced on Sunday, Light... Copyright (C) 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 12:42:57 EST From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: March 13, 2006 - Telecom Mergers Put Cable on Defensive USTelecom dailyLead March 13, 2006 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dhhQfDtutbzksxFxlE TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Telecom mergers put cable on defensive BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Vodafone life president Gent quits * Money flows to Web 2.0 * Nortel to restate financial results * RIM faces challenges after NTP settlement USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Author Steven Shepard teaches two Crash Courses at TelecomNEXT HOT TOPICS * AT&T-BellSouth Deal could prompt M&A activity among gear makers * AT&T to acquire BellSouth for $67B * AT&T-BellSouth deal may lead to cable mergers * Verizon adopting coaxial cable to cut costs * Verizon targets MDUs for FiOS penetration TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Ultra-niche TV thrives online * Wireless networking installation can confuse consumers REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Editorial: The illusion of the network neutrality debate Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dhhQfDtutbzksxFxlE ------------------------------ From: jsw Subject: Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 12:30:08 CST > Being 9 or 10 years old at the time I was fascinated that a device > could be built that could make cold using only a flame. I distinctly remember gas refrigerators, and yes, I was also fascinated by the fact they used heat to produce cold. When I was about that age, some neighbors of ours in an upstairs apartment had one, a Servel. It was connected by a stubbed-out pipe from the connection to the gas range. It did have a power cord -- for the light. ;-) I don't recall if it was vented or not. (Anybody know?) Later I learned that these used a hydrogen and ammonia refregeration unit. Back in the 1970's a friend of mine had a 50's vintage suburban ranch house which had a gas central air unit. At the time it worked, but it was incredibly expensive to operate due to escalating gas prices. I remember the tag on the inside unit had a picture of a blue flame and the expression: 'Ice Blue Gas Flame.' I also vaguely recall gas deep freezers as well. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) Date: 13 Mar 2006 11:02:58 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A water cooler with a DC motor is >> interesting; but did you ever see a _refrigerator_ powered by -gas- >> rather than -electricity-? Back in the 1960s the city gas works was pushing gas air-conditioning for homes. It was a big marketing campaign. If someone got such a unit, the gas works would send out cards to the neighbors inviting them to come and check it out. IIRC, in the early 1960s the city converted from manufactured gas (processing coal to create gas) to buying "natural gas". This was because pipelines were built between the oil wells and the consuming cities and collect gas that was otherwise just thrown away. Although cities had gas works for a great many years, gas was originally used for lighting. Coal was used for heating. In later years gas was used for cooking, hot water, heating, and clothes drying, all because it was cheaper than electricity for those purposes. In those days, one advantage of living in the city was that utility expenses were cheaper -- using gas was cheaper than electricity to run the household. Further, utilities charged city residents a lower rate since the higher housing density was cheaper to serve. In the 1970s this all changed with the energy crisis. I believe the domestic gas sources ran out and now gas had to be imported from the Middle East along with oil, greatly increasing its cost. Indeed, there were shortages and new housing construction had to use all-electric instead of gas. On railroads, steam was used for air conditioning. There was an explanation on the railroad newsgroup of how this worked. Steam had the advantage of being freely available as excess from the locomotive boiler. After the railroads diselized, the diesel locomotives had to contain a water boiler for passenger trains to provide steam for a/c and heat. This continued into the Amtrak era. Amtrak converted all trains to all-electric, eliminating the steam lines which were a problem to maintain. Someone mentioned Philadelphia's central steam for heating. This was once supplied by the Philaadelphia Electric company in a "steam loop" that circulated throughout center city. Buildings purchased steam instead of maintaining their own boilers. I believe industrial processes could even use that steam. The loop still exists although it was sold off. The steam generators for the loop may no longer be from the electric power plant; Philadelphia Electric has closed down a lot of old power plants. One beautiful old building is being converted into condos. Anyway, the steam loop has had varying fortunes over the years, becoming less popular, but then gaining in popularity again. I believe other cities have similar utility service. Someone mentioned Bell using jet engines for central office power backup. I'm kind of surprised at this. The electric companies use them for summer supplements. They are very expensive to run, but can get up to speed very quickly. I believe the phone companies use more conventional diesel engines to power generators. If there is a power failure, central office battery has enough capacity to keep things going for a while, more than enough time to power up a diesel engine. (The jet engine has the advtg of being smaller.) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They did this same thing in parts of downtown Chicago. The boiler in the basement of the Commonwealth Edison (corporate HQ at that time) Building provided steam to many buildings in the area. It was at Clark and Adams Street, right across the street from the old federal court house (for history buffs the very nice, elegant older building with the rotunda and several levels built up under the dome; they tore it down in 1963 when they build the _new_ Federal Plaza on the same spot along with the new post office. When Edison HQ was across the street, they supplied steam for at least five or six buildings along there on Clark Street. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2006 22:33:41 -0600 From: Neal McLain Reply-To: nmclain@annsgarden.com Subject: Re: 208/240V, was: 25 Hz Power John McHarry wrote > Apropos the earlier discussion in the 25Hz thread, I think both the US > and Europe distribute three phase wye connected power. If you look at > a distribution pole, at least before the phases are split out, you > will see three well insulated wires, and a fourth wire that is earthed > at each pole. In the USA, the fourth wire is called the "MGN" ("multi-grounded neutral"). http://www.annsgarden.com/poles/poles.htm#def The MGN isn't necessarily grounded at each pole. In my cable TV days, the rule-of-thumb used by power companies was "every tenth pole; every transformer pole; every corner pole; every end pole." At any pole with a full ground, all other facilities on the pole (such as telco and CATV cable shields) had to be grounded to the same ground. And yes, for safety reasons, distribution primary is (almost always) wye connected. Consider: - If one phase (say, phase X) of a wye-connected distribution circuit fails, all phase-X customers have no power, but phase-Y and phase-Z customers are not affected. - In one phase (say, phase X) of a delta-connected distribution circuit fails, the phase-X conductor downstream from the point of failure becomes a floating bus. Customers across Y-Z are not affected, but X-Y customers are suddenly in series with X-Z customers. Big voltage drop. Unhappy customers. I wrote "almost always" above because I've heard of at least one case of delta-connected distribution. Some fellow in New Jersey posted a story about it here on T-D several years ago -- apparently, he was one of the customers with half-voltage. Maybe he'll post his story again. > I believe both systems provide single phase house current by attaching > a transformer from one phase to neutral/earth. If you go down a street > with three phase distribution you will see the transformers (pole > pigs) attached to each phase in sequence. When you get near the end of > a run, it may drop down to two, or even a single phase. Single-phase primary distribution is quite common on residential side streets in the USA. > If you are going down a street with streetlights, there will likely be > a line below the main distribution lines carrying lower voltage for > them. Not necessarily. A separate line is sometimes used in situations where several mercury-vapor (or sodium-vapor) lamps are installed in a relatively small area (say, a city block or an interstate interchange). The lamps are wired in series, and each lampholder has a cutout circuit that shorts the circuit across a failed lamp. Presumably, there are current-limiting devices somewhere in the circuit that keep the total current constant. Far more commonly, however, streetlights of any species (incandescent, mercury, or sodium) are simply wired across any conveniently-available 115-volt secondary distribution circuits -- the same circuits that feed nearby residences and small commercial customers. Each streetlight has its own photocell (at dusk, the lights come on at different times). A burned-out lamp simply goes out, but it doesn't affect any other streetlight. A photocell may short out (or get covered with bird poop), in which case the streetlight burns all day. Of course, there will be a dedicated 115-volt secondary distribution conductor pair ("duplex") for any streetlight that happens to be on a pole that wouldn't otherwise require secondary distribution. Other pole-mounted 115-volt loads are wired in the same manner: traffic signals, pedestrian lighting, CATV power supplies, seasonal decorations. > When you come to a customer requiring three phase power, there will be > three pole pigs, one off each leg. I think in Europe these are also > wye connected, but some in the US are delta connected. The primary windings may be delta-connected, but the secondary windings are (in my experience) always wye connected. But I suppose a power company could provide a delta connection to a customer that specifically requested (and paid for) it. > Some places the power company, at least in the past, got cheap and > used two pole pigs to deliver an "open delta" where the third phase is > imputed. On a warm spring day with the sun shining and the birds > singing, this works fine. When the loads get out of balance, all sorts > of evil ensues. Why would ambient air temp affect load balance? I would think that load balance would be determined by the customer's instantaneous demand. > There is, however, a reason for both wye and delta connections. Non > linear loads, and ever more are with the prevalence of switching power > supplies, generating harmonics. Multiples of the third harmonic, > called triplen (from triple n) currents add in phase on the neutral. A > wye-delta transformation traps them and keeps them out of the upstream > system, where large currents on the neutral can wreak havoc. Are wye-delta and delta-wye transformations ever used in secondary distribution circuits? The ones I've seen were always in primary distribution or sub-transmission. Neal McLain ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 00:08:39 -0500 From: William Warren Subject: Re: 208/240V, was: 25 Hz Power (L Danny Burstein wrote: [snip] > As the above poster mentioned, "240V" is usually a "real" (more or > less...) 240V based on tapping two 120V legs against each other. If > they're (that is, both wires) coming off opposite sides of the > transformer, you get a simple addition (120 + 120 = 240) [a]. > [a] I'd personally consider that design > to be two-phase, since the legs > are 180 degrees apart, but the > rest of the world disagrees with > me and calls it single phase. [snip] I think the confusion comes from the use of ground as a reference: a wye-connected three-phase circuit has three distinct phase angles ** with respect to ground **. In a center-tapped secondary delivering 240/120 to a home, there is only one phase angle with respect to ground. The polarity is different, of course, but the absolute value of the angle is the same. The disparity might also be an accomodaction to history: some electrical systems used to deliver two phases of power separated by 90 degrees (and thus requiring four wires). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_phase and http://forums.jlconline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=202929 for discussions. If I had to guess, I'd say that electrical engineers decided to call our usual 240/120 CT arrangement "Single phase" to distinguigh it from the four-wire two phase systems, and possibly because engineers think in terms of differences: two wires only have one angular difference. If there is a "Two phase" system in current use (pun intended), I think it would be a delta-connected service with one leg grounded. I don't know what an electrician would call it, but "Delta breakers" are commonly used for this arrangement, i.e., there are panels with two-pole breakers that control two legs of a delta feed, with the third being grounded. Come to think of it, maybe this is the "standard" for delta: any electricians care to comment? HTH. William Warren (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Keokuk Dam & 25Hz Power Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 02:39:57 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 14:45:53 +0000, Justa Lurker wrote: > John McHarry wrote: >> Whether I was told so, or figured out later, this must have been done >> with rotating machinery. I would guess, unless there is a cute hack I >> am unaware of, this would give a nasty waveform, but would probably be >> smoothed out by the rest of the grid. > Not necessarily ... the resulting waveform would be quite fine > ... imagine a 25 Hz motor on one side turning a shaft connected to a > 60 Hz alternator. That wouldn't be very efficient, and I think would cost more than simply replacing the 25Hz generators with 60Hz models. There was another post that pointed to a couple of large users consuming 25Hz power near the dam. It could be they consumed the 25Hz output and the rest of the then CIPS customers were supplied native 60Hz power. This strikes me as more plausible than what I was told as a youth. ------------------------------ From: John Hines Subject: Re: Keokuk Dam & 25Hz Power Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 09:38:22 -0600 Organization: www.jhines.org Reply-To: john@jhines.org Justa Lurker wrote: > Not necessarily ... the resulting waveform would be quite fine > ... imagine a 25 Hz motor on one side turning a shaft connected to a > 60 Hz alternator. That is how it works. I remember doing some computer work for a company that developed aircraft electronics. In the back room with the ups and such were a couple of motor-generators that produced 400hz power, which is used in large jets. This was routed to the test benches and such. They have been used as online ups for a long time, usually with a flywheel to store the energy. Very low maintenance devices, that have been around for ages. ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: 3 Phase Power Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 02:28:49 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 05:32:08 -0500, DLR wrote: > I studied power a bit 30 years ago in but now my knowledge is a bit > more limited so excuse any technical mistakes. Here in Raleigh, NC and > I'm assume other CP&L/Progress Energy locations, they have been on a > campaign for a while to loop all the 3 phase feeds from the > substations so there are few if any "ends of runs". I don't know if > this started due to Hugo & Fran, just happened at the same time, or > was accelerated due to them. I am in Wilmington, NC, which is also "Progress" Energy. Dropping phases is pretty common here, and there is still a pole pig for every house or two, at least in older areas. Maybe we are less of a priority than the capital, even though we are on the coast in an area that seems to Hoover hurricanes. Looping seems like a good idea, but I know it can cause some headaches when there is a need to drop power to a segment. I live quite close to the main hospital and noticed some rather involved switches near there. Maybe that section is looped and the bad direction can be cut off. We do have a reputation for early restoration. ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: 25 Hz Power Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 02:47:58 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 16:25:53 +0100, obsidian wrote: > Your observation about single phase is correct for UK. However in > other parts of Europe 3 phase is routinely supplied to quite small > dwellings. > I live in a small 2 bedroom apartment in Belgium of about 80m² which > is supplied with 3 phase with 230 volts between phases and no > neutral. More modern homes are supplied with 3 phase and neutral... Interesting. Do you have any appliances that consume 3 phase, or is this just for the benefit of the power company? ------------------------------ From: harold@hallikainen.com Subject: Re: 25 Hz power Date: 12 Mar 2006 20:04:01 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I think light bulb manufacturers have to balance efficiency (useful light out divided by electrical power in) versus lamp life. You can make a lamp last a long time, but it becomes very inefficient. Harold ------------------------------ From: Allen Newman Subject: Re: Bell System Phone Label Code? Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2006 23:16:52 -0600 I've come back to this thread in search of a new theory. I liked the M = modular idea but I've saw a new ebay listing with pictures of two "hard-wired" WE 1500s that have number cards with the M stamp. After much scanning, measuring, image enlarging, and font matching I've finished making replica number cards for my own WE phones and I'm not sure I want the M on mine anyway but I'm still curious what it meant. In article , Allen Newman wrote: > That's a pretty good guess. I saw a touch-tone wall phone that's > still hard-wired (non modular) where Ma Bell put it and still has its > original number card (this one happens to be a card, not a sticker), > and sure enough there's no M on it. This phone is in Northwestern > Bell territory and was probably installed between 1967 and 1969 based > on it being touch-tone and not having the 1969-present Bell logo on > it. > If it stands for Modular, I wonder if it's sort of a disclaimer, since > the reality of a modular phone is that it's far easier to move it, > therefore there's more of a chance that the number card/sticker could > be wrong if the customer connected the phone to a different line. > I don't think all telcos used the M, though. I'm seeing the non-M > layout on some modular phones on ebay. > In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com > wrote: >> Allen Newman wrote: >>> On the number cards/labels affixed to latter-decades' Bell System >>> phones, there was a letter M stamped like this: >> Could it have meant "modular" since that number card was intended for >> modular phones installed by the customer? They used to give them out >> at Phone Center stores. >> I didn't care for them since it was a sticker, not a card. Admittedly, >> for most people that what was best. However, since I knew how to open >> a dial, I wanted a card to mount behind it and didn't want some sticker >> fouling my dial. Also, they used a stamper that was in relatively >> small type size compared to the bigger size used by traditional >> installers. Of course all they had was all-number, no letters. In our >> area, we were still using letters in a limited manner. To this day, >> the official internal identifier for telephone districts in our area >> was the old exchange name from way back. ------------------------------ From: Matt Simpson Subject: Re: Internet and Civil Liberties? Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 09:32:21 -0500 Organization: Yeah In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > Suppose some molester uses your identity in a chat to arrange an > illicit meeting with a victim. Will cops come after you? For that particular example, the cops will probably show up at the arranged meeting and arrest whoever shows up. For other examples of identity theft (hackers obtaining credit in your name), the innocent party may have a little more trouble getting clear of the mess. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V25 #101 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Mar 14 00:26:32 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 22D9C1575C; Tue, 14 Mar 2006 00:26:32 -0500 (EST) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #102 Message-Id: <20060314052632.22D9C1575C@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 00:26:32 -0500 (EST) 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=-3.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Tue, 14 Mar 2006 00:30:00 EST Volume 25 : Issue 102 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Movie "Pillow Talk" (Lisa Hancock) Re: Bell System Phone Label Code? (Lisa Hancock) Re: The 411 on Directory Assistance (Lisa Hancock) 25 Hz Railroad Power -- Book Recommendation (Lisa Hancock) Re: 208/240V, was: 25 Hz Power (John McHarry) Re: 208/240V, was: 25 Hz Power (Robert Bonomi) Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) (John McHarry) Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) (T) Re: Keokuk Dam & 25Hz Power (John McHarry) Re: Keokuk Dam & 25Hz Power (Robert Bonomi) Re: Who Used 25 HZ Power in 50's (John Bachtel) 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: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Movie "Pillow Talk" Date: 13 Mar 2006 12:16:55 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com TCM cable showed the film "Pillow Talk" the other night. It's a romantic comedy from 1959 with Rock Hudson and Doris Day. Because of high demand, Hudson and Day are forced to share a party line. Hudson is a playboy with the women and Day is mad she can't use her phone since he's always talking to girls on it, plus she doesn't like his playboy lifestyle. The normally excellent TCM moderator said not to ask why those two couldn't afford private telephone lines. He missed the point, stated early in the movie, that the telephone company was short on capacity and there was a waiting list for private lines. During the 1950s this was a problem in many parts of the country. There was considerable new construction of homes which required new exchanges and many people who once had party lines now wanted private lines. Further, people who never had a phone before now could afford one and that added to demand. I'm curious as to how many romances developed over sharing a party line. I suppose here and there a few may have happened. But in all the telephone lore I've heard, however, it seemed people only complained about the other party sharing their line--that they tied it up too much or listened in. One person told his father had his employer tell the phoneco he was a critical worker on call (somewhat true) to get a private line and get out of the nuisance. As to the movie, and other similar movies of that time frame, I must admit I didn't care for it. The movie was full of extremely subtle sex references which were never stated. Rather, the accompanying music made sounds to indicate it was something naughty. (I can't describe the sounds, but it was something like a snicker or one person elbowing another discretely, kind of from a sax or clarionet.) What bothered me was the big pretense the actors made (like Doris Day) about being absolutely prim and proper and never ever doing anything that would be "embarassing" or improper, or even looking or suggesting impropriety. Then there'd be a "wink wink" by the guys. I guess the overt hyprocracy--suggesting sex but pretending it wasn't there and keeping up a proper facade--irritated me. (There was another film with Doris Day and Cary Grant that was heavilly loaded in this regard, too). An excellent movie of that time, The Apartment, was partly based on that attitude, but handled it very differently and didn't dwell on the sexual aspect. It pretty much accepted the parties were having sex, and rather dealt with issues -- were the married men lonely or just scum cheaters. (As an aside, The Apartment accurately depicted the flashing lights of the six button key set). Now I don't mean to suggest they go to today's opposite extreme where actors and actresses go on TV talk shows and brag about sexual conquests -- A is having B's baby but dating C who is still married to D who is also involved with A. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My dear departed grandmother, bless her soul, dead now since 1978 told me about party lines and the old biddies here in Independence/Coffeyville who had them during the 1930-40's. They would set their phone in or upon a galvanized wash tub, then go out to sit on the front porch on a hot summer night. Sooner or later, they would hear the 'ticking' and 'clattering' of that wash tub as the bell clapper on the phone would make a single strike. (Recall please that party lines often used a system where the desired phone would ring normally, but the other phones on the line [with their bell ringing clappers on a different frequency] would just make a sort of feeble 'tick sound' once and then stay silent. The old witches would be out on their front porch trying to stay cool; one of them would hear that greatly amplfied [by comparison because of the galvanized wash tub] 'tick sound', excuse herself and slip inside to quietly pick up the reciever and see _who_ had called, _who_ they were talking to, and _what about_. They'd sit in there quietly listening to the others, and only occassionally would another one of the biddies happen to notice she was being spied on and angrily tell the others to get off the line. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Bell System Phone Label Code? Date: 13 Mar 2006 13:54:53 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Allen Newman wrote: > I've come back to this thread in search of a new theory. I liked the > M = modular idea but I've saw a new ebay listing with pictures of two > "hard-wired" WE 1500s that have number cards with the M stamp. In those days the "number cards" were peel off stickers. It is entirely possible that a number card was issued by itself to reflect a new number and pasted on an existed phone. Customers certainly moved around hard wired phones after divesture. Also, in those last days I don't think they were as strict on number card use as in the old days. I saw a great variety of newly installed number cards--some ANC, some with 2 letters, some with the full exchange name. It's rare, but there were the rectangular cards (for Touch Tone phones) that had the full exchange name spelled out; squeezing DEvonshire in that little space was quite an accomplishment. In the 1950s sometimes they used a fancy card in which the installer had little numbers he put into tiny slots on the card face. These were black background with white numbers. In the 1960s we got a peel off sticker with our area code which was to be pasted on the phone dial, overlaying the "wait" as in "wait for dial tone". If they had to do that today every time an area code changed they'd go broke just from postage. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: The 411 on Directory Assistance Date: 13 Mar 2006 14:07:09 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Monty Solomon wrote: > By FRED A. BERNSTEIN > The New York Times > March 9, 2006 > Calling 411 for directory assistance can be maddeningly expensive. > Carriers like Sprint and Verizon charge more than $1 and sometimes as > much as $2 a call from a cellphone.. > And much of that is profit. Directory assistance "truly is a cash > cow," said Saroja Girishankar, a vice president at the Pelorus Group, > a telecommunications market research firm based in Raritan, N.J. She > and other industry analysts said that the carriers paid wholesalers -- > who actually provide the 411 service -- from 25 to 50 cents a call. Our local directory assistance is two calls for free, then around 35c a call. I believe most places charge something like that for local directory assistance, and $1 for long distance directory assistance. At one time directory assistance was a profit contributor in that a customer wouldn't be making a call without the number. In a day when most calls were metered that was important. About 50 years ago and longer, many people made long distance calls by name and city, not by number "operator, get me John Smith in Kansas City", and the operator would call KC information to get his number then make the call. The Bell System ran ads to discourage that and to call by number, then provided free distant information. Over time however, the company found costs growing and many people using DA because they were too lazy to look in the phone book or to verify someone's name and address. So they began charging for DA use. What bothers me is that many sources are INACCURATE. My own listing is totally fouled up on some alternative sources, though it is correct in my local telephone directory. The same alternative sources have an old number long disconnected still shown as in use. If someone tries to use one of those alternative sources they won't be able to reach me. But I must admit in a way I'm glad those alternative sources are messed up. If someone truly wants me, they'll spend the 25c or $1 and call standard directory assistance and get my listing. I suspect the alternative sources are more of a resource for junk phone solicitations and junk mail. Charities and politicians are still quite heavy users of telemarketing. Some sleazy businesses call up and say "you've done business with us in the past so we're calling you today ..." ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: 25 Hz railroad power--book recommendation Date: 13 Mar 2006 14:22:31 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I see there was a lot of interest in power distribution. There's an excellent book that covers the history of electric propulsion on steam railroads, "When the Steam Railroads Electrified" by William Middleton. It is now in its second edition which contains added information. There's a chapter on motor technology. Railroads electrified to (1) increase track capacity since electric trains were faster and more flexible, and (2) avoid smoke in tunnels. A big innovation was the "multiple unit" (MU) passenger train. These are trains, usually commuter trains or subways, that have no locomotive. The motors are part of the carriage with the wheels and the engineer sits in a vestibule at the front of the train. These have the advantage of being very flexible in size--one car or 16 cars as needed, and easy to turn around since they are bi-direction. MU cars also accelerate faster. With the advent of diesel engines and improved ventilation, some tunnel electrifications were shutdown. Some commuter electrifications were shut down as well. The Pennsylvania Railroad had a massive electrified network for its passenger and freight trains. While started in 1915, it reached its peak in the 1930s. Most of the passenger network remains in place run by commuter agencies or Amtrak, but the freight network was shutdown after Conrail inherited the Pennsy. Diesel locomotives are actually electric, with the generator carried above. As such, they have many of the advantages of an electric engine without the expense of maintaining a power distribution network (substations and overhead wires). Street railways and subway-elevated lines used 600 V DC and most still do (somewhat higher voltage) to this day. The relatively low voltage requires frequent substations. Railroad trains used a variety of voltages and AC frequencies. As mentioned, 11000V 25Hz was common and still in use to this day. Opinion follows... I am a strong proponent of electric propulsion. A modern electric powerhouse is far more efficient due to economy of scale than an on-board power plant could ever be. The plant could run on coal, oil, or gas, and many can be switched from one source to another. The exhaust can be economically cleaned up by scrubbers. Since the plant is more efficient in the first place, more of the fuel is burned up and less left over to go up the stack. Also, nuclear plants which do not release air pollutants or use scarce oil can be used. Rail is the most efficient means of travel for short distances. Unfortunately, this country has chosen to massively invest in air and highway and despite that investment, those modes remain overcrowded and unable to accomodate all demand. Fast trains -- which are not that costly to build -- should be used for regional transport needs and would be far more efficient in terms of fuel, safety, and pollution. We don't have the land to build more airports and roads, and trains fit in anywhere. Planes are better for coast to coast trips. ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: 208/240V, was: 25 Hz Power Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 23:21:35 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 22:33:41 -0600, Neal McLain wrote: > John McHarry wrote >> Some places the power company, at least in the past, got cheap and used >> two pole pigs to deliver an "open delta" where the third phase is >> imputed. On a warm spring day with the sun shining and the birds >> singing, this works fine. When the loads get out of balance, all sorts >> of evil ensues. > Why would ambient air temp affect load balance? I would think that load > balance would be determined by the customer's instantaneous demand. I was being a bit flippant, like saying something is so loud it can be heard five miles upwind on a foggy day. >> There is, however, a reason for both wye and delta connections. Non >> linear loads, and ever more are with the prevalence of switching power >> supplies, generating harmonics. Multiples of the third harmonic, called >> triplen (from triple n) currents add in phase on the neutral. A >> wye-delta transformation traps them and keeps them out of the upstream >> system, where large currents on the neutral can wreak havoc. > Are wye-delta and delta-wye transformations ever used in secondary > distribution circuits? The ones I've seen were always in primary > distribution or sub-transmission. I don't know, but I think you know more about this subject than I do. They may do it within substations, or perhaps they have other means of getting triplens off the neutral. I do know switching power supplies cause some horrid current waveforms, mostly symmetric, so rich in odd harmonics. I used to volunteer engineering help at a public radio station. We were having trouble getting the UPSs and emergency generator to play together, so, after seeing the top clipped off the generator voltage waveform, I hooked a clamp on current probe into the scope. It looked like a pig's breakfast! Pretty much all the loads are switching supplies or fluorescent lights. The input to the UPSs looks a bit better, but is still extremely non linear. The wonder is that it worked at all. I believe they are now trying to raise the money for a much larger generator in the hopes it can cope with the insult. ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: 208/240V, was: 25 Hz Power (L Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 03:40:30 -0000 Organization: Widgets, Inc. In article , Danny Burstein wrote: > "240V" is usually a "real" (more or > less...) 240V based on tapping two 120V legs against each other. If > they're (that is, both wires) coming off opposite sides of the > transformer, you get a simple addition (120 + 120 = 240) [a]. > [a] I'd personally consider that design > to be two-phase, since the legs > are 180 degrees apart, but the > rest of the world disagrees with > me and calls it single phase. "Two-phase" described 2 hot-wires that were 90(!!!) degrees out-of-phase. It is demonstrably single-phase, as there is only one secondary coil. It just happens to have a 'center tap', which is at 'relative' zero potential. The rest of Danny's dissertation is spot on. :) > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I know of a janitor in an apartment > building who always used 25 watt _240 volt_ light bulbs in the > exit signs in his building (even though the fixures were the more > standard and customary 120 volts.) He said those 240 volt bulbs > (which were in difficult to reach places) _never_ had to be changed; > they would on burning for several years. He did not like the idea of > getting out a step ladder to climb up and change a bulb in an exit > sign if he could avoid it. PAT] Years? *SNORT* make that decades or *centuries*. expected lifetime of a light-bulb is approximately a 15th-order inverse relationship. Halve the voltage, and lifetime will be roughly 2**15th (32,768) times longer. The 'lumens' (actually lumen-hours) of light output, per dollar of electricity supplied will be far, *FAR* inferior to the standard 120v bulb. There are standard "rough service" bulbs (lifetime for which is at a rated 130v) that are "close" to as dollar-efficient in energy usage as the 120v bulbs, but with a greatly improved lifespan. They don't cost much more than _quality_ 'standard 120v' bulbs, assuming you can find somebody that carries them. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Precisely! But a 25-watt bulb at 240 volts in a 120 volt fixture still presents a reasonably decent glow to point people in the direction they should walk to reach a fire escape, for example, which is I think how he was doing it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 00:38:15 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 11:02:58 -0800, hancock4 wrote: > In the 1970s this all changed with the energy crisis. I believe the > domestic gas sources ran out and now gas had to be imported from the > Middle East along with oil, greatly increasing its cost. Indeed, > there were shortages and new housing construction had to use > all-electric instead of gas. I think some is imported these days, but most is domestic, if you count offshore. I do remember the big push for cryogenic tankers and such, but recently they have been building gas powered power stations, which means a ready supply at a good price. > After the railroads diselized, the diesel locomotives had to contain a > water boiler for passenger trains to provide steam for a/c and heat. > This continued into the Amtrak era. Amtrak converted all trains to > all-electric, eliminating the steam lines which were a problem to > maintain. I guess you mean HVAC. I doubt the propulsion is all electric on the Chicago to New Orleans run. BTW, I just checked that it still runs, but they have renamed the Panama Limited to the City of New Orleans, which was canceled years ago. > Someone mentioned Philadelphia's central steam for heating. This was > once supplied by the Philaadelphia Electric company in a "steam loop" > that circulated throughout center city. Buildings purchased steam > instead of maintaining their own boilers. I believe industrial > processes could even use that steam. The loop still exists although > it was sold off. The steam generators for the loop may no longer be > from the electric power plant; Philadelphia Electric has closed down a > lot of old power plants. One beautiful old building is being > converted into condos. Anyway, the steam loop has had varying > fortunes over the years, becoming less popular, but then gaining in > popularity again. I believe other cities have similar utility > service. The University of Illinois at Urbana, at least in antediluvian times, when I was there, owned an operated a power plant. Originally the electricity was the main product, and the steam to heat the buildings was a byproduct. When I was there, it was really a steam plant that generated some electricity. For TDers who aren't engineers, all heat engines work off a temperature differential. You not only need a source of heat, but a sink, the colder the better. That is why they build power plants near bodies of water. > Someone mentioned Bell using jet engines for central office power > backup. I'm kind of surprised at this. The electric companies use > them for summer supplements. They are very expensive to run, but > can get up to speed very quickly. I believe the phone companies use > more conventional diesel engines to power generators. If there is a > power failure, central office battery has enough capacity to keep > things going for a while, more than enough time to power up a diesel > engine. (The jet engine has the advtg of being smaller.) Many use > diesels, but some have turbines. I have been told if you are ever > near one of the latter and notice the louvers opening, run. The > noise will be horrendous. There must be a scale at which gas > turbines become competitive with diesels, or power companies > wouldn't use them either. Of course, they aren't quite the same as > aircraft turbines. They are multi stage to milk as much energy as > possible out of the stream. Oh, and steam plants generally drive > multi stage steam turbines. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They did this same thing in parts of > downtown Chicago. The boiler in the basement of the Commonwealth > Edison (corporate HQ at that time) Building provided steam to many > buildings in the area. To tie this back to telecom, here is an even weirder one: Until a few years ago, the headquarters of the British overseas telecom giant Cable & Wireless was a building on Theobalds Road in London. It had originally been a central hydraulic plant. I think they provided high pressure for elevators, but, more importantly for C&W, they powered and owned a pneumatic mail system that covered much of central London. This was one of those systems where you could put papers in a cylindrical carrier and fire them to the recipient by air pressure. When the government allowed C&W to compete with British Telecom, they were able to use the tubes from the defunct mail system to run fiber into most of the "City", being the financial district. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: University of Chicago also has (or had, as I have not been around there for more than a decade) a steam boiler over at 61st and Harper Avenue I think. In the dead of winter when there was otherwise several inches of snow on the ground, you could always tell where all the underground steam pipes (to the various buildings on campus) were buried, because no matter how much snow had fallen the night before, that spot would always be free of snow and ice. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 19:49:32 EST Subject: Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) On 13 Mar 2006 11:02:58 -0800 hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > Someone mentioned Bell using jet engines for central office power > backup. I'm kind of surprised at this. The electric companies use > them for summer supplements. They are very expensive to run, but can > get up to speed very quickly. I believe the phone companies use more > conventional diesel engines to power generators. If there is a power > failure, central office battery has enough capacity to keep things > going for a while, more than enough time to power up a diesel engine. > The jet engine has the advantage of being smaller.) Every "emergency engine" I ever saw in a telephone building was a conventional diesel engine. My father-in-law was shop foreman for a company that sold and service large earth moving equipment in Enid, Oklahoma, and from time to time they were called upon to routine the auto-start emergency engine in the Enid c.o. It was a conventional GM diesel engine like those used on earth moving equipment and locomotives. Offices with 24-hour coverage had larger diesel engines that were started manually. Both auto-start engines and those started manually were tested once a week by pulling the commercial power and making sure that the officde transferred properly to the emergency engine and, in the case of auto-start engines, that it started properly. As Lisa says, the batteries would carry the load for some time. The batteries always carried the load, with commercial power or emergency power being used to float the batteries and charge them continuosly. Usually the emergency engines, at least in offices with manual start, were tested at 7 a.m. on Wednesdays and run for an hour carrying the load. If you happened to hit dial tone or ringing tone at that time, you could hear a slight blip in the tone as the load shifted from the usual ringing machine running on commercial power to the backup which ran from the c.o. batteries. C.O. batteries were very large compared to the usual auto battery you think of, and existed in large numbers. As to Servel refrigerators, the patents (and perhaps the name) were purchased by ArkLa Gas (originally Arkansas-Louisiana Gas Company). It his now combined with another large gas utility and has a double name. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: T Subject: Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) Organization: The Ace Tomato and Cement Company Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 20:08:34 -0500 In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com says: >>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A water cooler with a DC motor is >>> interesting; but did you ever see a _refrigerator_ powered by -gas- >>> rather than -electricity-? > Back in the 1960s the city gas works was pushing gas air-conditioning > for homes. It was a big marketing campaign. If someone got such a > unit, the gas works would send out cards to the neighbors inviting them > to come and check it out. > IIRC, in the early 1960s the city converted from manufactured gas > (processing coal to create gas) to buying "natural gas". This was > because pipelines were built between the oil wells and the consuming > cities and collect gas that was otherwise just thrown away. > Although cities had gas works for a great many years, gas was > originally used for lighting. Coal was used for heating. In later > years gas was used for cooking, hot water, heating, and clothes > drying, all because it was cheaper than electricity for those > purposes. In those days, one advantage of living in the city was that > utility expenses were cheaper -- using gas was cheaper than electricity > to run the household. Further, utilities charged city residents a > lower rate since the higher housing density was cheaper to serve. > In the 1970s this all changed with the energy crisis. I believe the > domestic gas sources ran out and now gas had to be imported from the > Middle East along with oil, greatly increasing its cost. Indeed, > there were shortages and new housing construction had to use > all-electric instead of gas. > On railroads, steam was used for air conditioning. There was an > explanation on the railroad newsgroup of how this worked. Steam had > the advantage of being freely available as excess from the locomotive > boiler. > After the railroads diselized, the diesel locomotives had to contain a > water boiler for passenger trains to provide steam for a/c and heat. > This continued into the Amtrak era. Amtrak converted all trains to > all-electric, eliminating the steam lines which were a problem to > maintain. > Someone mentioned Philadelphia's central steam for heating. This was > once supplied by the Philaadelphia Electric company in a "steam loop" > that circulated throughout center city. Buildings purchased steam > instead of maintaining their own boilers. I believe industrial > processes could even use that steam. The loop still exists although > it was sold off. The steam generators for the loop may no longer be > from the electric power plant; Philadelphia Electric has closed down a > lot of old power plants. One beautiful old building is being > converted into condos. Anyway, the steam loop has had varying > fortunes over the years, becoming less popular, but then gaining in > popularity again. I believe other cities have similar utility > service. > Someone mentioned Bell using jet engines for central office power > backup. I'm kind of surprised at this. The electric companies use > them for summer supplements. They are very expensive to run, but can > get up to speed very quickly. I believe the phone companies use more > conventional diesel engines to power generators. If there is a power > failure, central office battery has enough capacity to keep things > going for a while, more than enough time to power up a diesel engine. > (The jet engine has the advantage of being smaller.) Speaking of power -- my office is responsible for the central voter registration system. As such we had to build out our new location to be as robust as possible when it came to networking and power. Roughly 30 servers as well as a dozen or so network devices and a phone switch are connected to an APC Symmetra system that provides one hour of runtime. That's backed up be a transfer switch and a 125kW natural gas powered generator. We do quarterly power down tests and have preventative maintenance contracts on the generator and UPS. The first test was very interesting. They pulled commercial power at the panel. The lights went out for ten seconds as those and the AC aren't hooked up to the UPS. For those ten seconds all cubes in the I.T. office had lighting and computers. You heard a slight bang at the ten second mark and then the overhead lights and AC came on. When it was time to transfer off generator power you just noticed a slight flicker in the overhead lights. Very smooth system. ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Keokuk Dam & 25Hz Power Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 23:29:06 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 09:38:22 -0600, John Hines wrote: > Justa Lurker wrote: >> Not necessarily ... the resulting waveform would be quite fine >> ... imagine a 25 Hz motor on one side turning a shaft connected to a >> 60 Hz alternator. > That is how it works. I remember doing some computer work for a > company that developed aircraft electronics. In the back room with > the ups and such were a couple of motor-generators that produced 400hz > power, which is used in large jets. This was routed to the test > benches and such. > They have been used as online ups for a long time, usually with a > flywheel to store the energy. Very low maintenance devices, that have > been around for ages. Sure, for enough 400Hz power for aircraft electronics. I also remember dynamotors for land mobile transmitters. But it doesn't sound viable for a power generating dam, especially when you could have the equipment by just replacing the original turbine driven generator. ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: Keokuk Dam & 25Hz Power Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 03:25:14 -0000 Organization: Widgets, Inc. In article , John McHarry wrote: > When I was young I was told that the dam at Keokuk, IA generated 25Hz > power. Since construction was completed in 1913, this may well have > been true. I can confirm that the hydro at Keokuk was 25 Hz. into the 50s, residential service (at least in part of the area) was still being delivered at 25Hz. Caused problems for some consumer-grade gear where line transformers 'saturated', overheated, and burned out. , overheated, and burned out. > I was also told that the power was by then converted to 60Hz and fed > into the grid. That was a relatively _late_ change. Keokuk was isolated from the grid for a long time. > Whether I was told so, or figured out later, this must have been done > with rotating machinery. I would guess, unless there is a cute hack I > am unaware of, this would give a nasty waveform, but would probably be > smoothed out by the rest of the grid. Nope; no 'nastier' than any other 'motor generator' set. Or any other generator driven by a rotating shaft, for that matter. > The dam is still generating electricity, but the old generators and > converters have probably long ago been replaced by native 60Hz > generators. The 25Hz facility was completely off-line and cold by the mid 70s. If it has been re-activated, I'd agree it is virtually certain to be using native 60Hz generators. The superior efficiency (and lower maintenance) of modern gear vs the old stuff (generator and motor-generator) would pay for the 'upgrade' in fairly short order. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 21:20:32 -0500 From: John Bachtel Reply-To: lilburn.ga.30047@att.net Subject: Re Who Used 25 HZ Power in 50's We understood users of 25 HZ power were electrochemicals in Niagara Falls, like Hooker and Carboruncum as well as steel mills in Lackawana. jrbde NR4JB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Note: Address modified to avoid so-called "spam". To reply via . . e-mail, delete "the .30047" from address! tnx/jrb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V25 #102 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Mar 14 15:09:17 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 732DF14F4D; Tue, 14 Mar 2006 15:09:16 -0500 (EST) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #103 Message-Id: <20060314200916.732DF14F4D@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 15:09:16 -0500 (EST) 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=-2.4 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, NA_DOLLARS,NO_COST autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Tue, 14 Mar 2006 15:10:00 EST Volume 25 : Issue 103 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson US Google Set to Face Off in Court (Michael Liedtke) Microsoft to Offer Parental Web Monitoring (Reuters News Wire) Adapt to New Web Technology or Die Murdoch Tells Newspapers (AFP NewsWire) Cellular-News for Tuesday 14th March 2006 (Cellular-News) TelecomDirect News Daily Update - March 14, 2006 (Telecomdirect_Daily) Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas (USTelecom dailyLead) Employment Opportunity: Jobs in the Wireless Industry (kj.davis) Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) (George Mitchell) Re: 208/240V, was: 25 Hz Power (Garrett Wollman) Re: Article About AM Radio (Scott Dorsey) 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: Michael Liedtke Subject: US Google Set to Face Off in Court Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 23:42:53 -0600 By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer The Bush administration will renew its effort to find out what people have been looking for on Google Inc.'s Internet-leading search engine, continuing a legal showdown over how much of the Web's vast databases should be shared with the government. Lawyers for the Justice Department and Google are expected to elaborate on their opposing views in a San Jose hearing scheduled Tuesday before U.S. District Court Judge James Ware. It will mark the first time the Justice Department and Google have sparred in court since the government subpoenaed the Mountain-View, Calif.-based company last summer in an effort to obtain a long list of search requests and Web site addresses. The government believes the requested information will help bolster its arguments in another case in Pennsylvania, where the Bush administration hopes to revive a law designed to make it more difficult for children to see online pornography. Google has refused to cooperate, maintaining that the government's demand threatens its users' privacy as well as its own closely guarded trade secrets. The Justice Department has downplayed Google's concerns, arguing it doesn't want any personal information nor any data that would undermine the company's thriving business. The case has focused attention on just how much personal information is stored by popular Web sites like Google -- and the potential for that data to attract the interest of the government and other parties. Although the Justice Department says it doesn't want any personal information now, a victory over Google in the case would likely encourage far more invasive requests in the future, said University of Connecticut law professor Paul Schiff Berman, who specializes in Internet law. "The erosion of privacy tends to happen incrementally," Berman said. "While no one intrusion may seem that big, over the course of the next decade or two, you might end up in a place as a society where you never thought you would be." Google seized on the case to underscore its commitment to privacy rights and differentiate itself from the Internet's other major search engines -- Yahoo Inc. , Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and Time Warner Inc.'s America Online. All three say they complied with the Justice Department's request without revealing their users' personal information. Cooperating with the government "is a slippery slope and it's a path we shouldn't go down," Google co-founder Sergey Brin told industry analysts earlier this month. Brin said, "We are just not going to go along with it; too dangerous to go along." Even as it defies the Bush administration, Google recently bowed to the demands of China's Communist government by agreeing to censor its search results in that country so it would have better access to the world's fastest growing Internet market. Google's China capitulation has been harshly criticized by some of the same people cheering the company's resistance to the Justice Department subpoena. The Justice Department initially demanded a month of search requests from Google, but subsequently decided a week's worth of requests would be enough. In its legal briefs, the Justice Department has indicated it might be willing to narrow its request even further. Ultimately, the government plans to select a random sample of 1,000 search requests previously made at Google and re-enter them in the search engine, according to a sworn declaration by Philip Stark, a statistics professor at the University of California, Berkeley who is helping the Justice Department in the case. The government believes the test will show how easily it is to get around the filtering software that's supposed to prevent children from seeing sexually explicit material on the Web. Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news headlines from Associated Press, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Microsoft to Offer Parental Web Monitoring Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 23:40:54 -0600 Microsoft Corp. said on Monday it plans to include a free service to help parents control and monitor what their children are doing online in its upcoming Windows Live offering of Web services. The monitoring of children online has become a hot-button subject due to a nationwide string of cases involving adult sexual predators using virtual-communities on the Internet like MySpace.com to meet child victims. Windows Live is part of Microsoft's strategy to consolidate a range of Web services -- e-mail, instant messaging, online PC security and blogs -- to compete with Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. for Internet advertising dollars. Windows Live is being tested now and will launch sometime in the second half of 2006. Microsoft plans to roll out Windows Live Family Safety Settings in the summer, which will allow parents to filter Web sites and receive reports to see what their children are doing online. The company also plans to eventually allow parents to control who communicates with their children over e-mail, instant messaging and in their blogs. Such software already exists as part of bundled PC security offerings from Trend Micro Inc., Symantec Corp. and McAfee Inc. and stand-alone products from CyberPatrol and NetNanny, owned by LookSmart Ltd. The software giant already offers a similar service under its subscription-based MSN premium, but Microsoft said customers are increasingly asking for the service to be free. Microsoft said while parents often say they want to monitor their child's activities online, they are often put off by the amount of work and sometimes complexity involved in the process. The company aims to simplify the process by allowing a parent, or administrator, to monitor every family member's Web activities within Windows Live. The service is only available for certain versions of Windows XP Service Pack 2 and will be compatible with the upcoming Windows Vista operating system. Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news headlines from Reuters, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Agence France Presse Subject: Adapt to New Web Technology or Die Murdoch Tells Newspapers Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 23:44:13 -0600 The newspaper industry needs to embrace the technological revolution of the Internet, MP3 players, laptops and mobile phones or face extinction, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch said. "Societies or companies that expect a glorious past to shield them from the forces of change driven by advancing technology will fail and fall," he said in a speech to the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers. "That applies as much to my own, the media industry, as to every other business on the planet. Power is moving away from the old elite in our industry -- the editors, the chief executives and, let's face it, the proprietors. "A new generation of media consumers has risen demanding content delivered when they want it, how they want it, and very much as they want it. For many readers these days, something like 'one click to read RSS' is where things are at. If they cannot get it from us, then they'll get it from other sources on the web." Murdoch, whose News Corporation empire ranges from newspapers and magazines to television and film interests across the globe, described the 21st century as "the second great age of discovery". The greatest challenge for the traditional media now is to engage with more demanding, questioning and better educated consumers, adapting their products for new technology, the Australian-born media mogul said. "There is only one way. That is by using our skills to create and distribute dynamic, exciting content," he said. "But -- and this is a very big but -- newspapers will have to adapt as their readers demand news and sport on a variety of platforms: websites, iPods, mobile phones or laptops. "I believe traditional newspapers have many years of life but, equally, I think in the future that newsprint and ink will be just one of many channels to our readers. Note how hundreds of papers these days use internet media such as RSS to distribute their material at no charge to computer users. They understand the importance of keeping their name in front of readers; they are not worried about a couple cents worth of _actual news content_ for which (using RSS for example) they are not getting paid as traditional newspapers get paid. New York Times is one example; many of my media are also. Having your presence as the source of news out there is much more important; we understand that." Murdoch sparked one of Britain's most bitter industrial disputes over the introduction of new computer technology for journalists and printers. In January 1986, he moved his British newspapers The Times, The Sun and The News of the World overnight from their historic home on Fleet Street, central London, to a purpose-built facility in Wapping, in the east of the capital. It was credited by some with not only breaking the stranglehold of print unions on a hitherto unprofitable industry crippled by strikes but paving the way for developments such as colour printing, supplements and websites. Copyright 2006 Agence France Presse. 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/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, Agence France Presse. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Read RSS news content on the Digest each day as follows: New York Times, National Public Radio, Christian Science Monitor, go to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html BBC Audio and print reports: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/BBC.html A general index of RSS news reports/features at: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/index.html ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Tuesday 14th March 2006 Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:30:24 -0600 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com [[ 3G ]] 3 UK Launches Datacard That Allows Skype Access http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16490.php 3 UK, the mobile telecommunications company owned by Hutchison Whampoa, Monday launched a datacard for use in laptops that also allows 3 UK's 3.2 million users to access services from voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, provider Skype. ... Motorola to support Vivo's 3G network expansion http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16494.php US mobile phone manufacturer Motorola has pledged support as a 3G network supplier for Brazil's largest mobile phone operator Vivo, Motorola said in a statement. ... HSDPA Accelerated Up to Four Times Faster http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16500.php Downloading mobile data over HSDPA was up to 4 times faster using Flash Networks' NettGain system in a field test in a live network in Western Europe. Likewise, perceived bandwidth was tripled in the trials. Flash Networks is the first company to pro... Ericsson Wins Japanese 3G Contract http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16501.php eMobile, a new entrant to the Japanese 3G market, has selected Ericsson as the prime supplier of its new WCDMA/HSDPA network. The agreement involves WCDMA 1.7GHz radio networks in the most populated areas of Japan, such as Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, an... [[ Financial ]] RFS to open factory in Mexico in July http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16493.php US telecom infrastructure supplier and antenna manufacturer Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) plans to open a factory in Mexico in July this year, RFS's Latin America president Luis Antonio Alves de Oliveira told BNamericas. ... Portugal's Coutinho:Not In Talks To Buy Portugal Telecom http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16497.php Portuguese financier Joao Pereira Coutinho said late Monday he hasn't been contacted by any national or foreign funds to prepare a bid for Portugal Telecom. ... Etisalat Completes Pakistan Investment Deal http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16507.php The United Arab Emirates based, Etisalat- has announced the completion of discussions to buy a 26% stake in Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL). All pending issues have been agreed upon, including the conditions for payment of the bid amount of... [[ Handsets ]] PRESS: Russia's Euroset CEO says to sell mobile handsets for cheap http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16492.php Russia's largest mobile handset retailer Euroset has directly imported 260,000 mobile handsets and plans to sell the batch at "very attractive prices," Euroset's Chairman Yevgeny Chichvarkin said, Biznes business daily reported Monday. ... Pantech to open US$50mn factory Aug or Sep http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16495.php Korean mobile handset manufacturer Pantech plans to open a US$50mn factory in Brazil by August or September, the company announced at the Telexpo trade fair in Sao Paulo. ... Sharp Handset Supporting Remote Software Upgrades http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16504.php Red Bend Software has announced that Sharp Corp. will use it's firmware over the air (FOTA) update client suite to allow customers to wirelessly download software upgrades to the Vodafone 904SH handset offered by Vodafone in Japan. This function will... Mobile Data Revolution Shakes Up Handset Retailing http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16506.php The mobile industry has been moving away from a vertically integrated model controlled by operators and manufacturers, to a more complex horizontal, layered structure, creating new challenges and opportunities for distributors and retailers of cellul... [[ Messaging ]] US Air Force Signs up to the BlackBerry http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16509.php WorldCell, a supplier of global enterprise managed wireless services, says that it has been awarded a contract from the United States Air Force Europe to supply local wireless telephone and BlackBerry service throughout the UK and Iceland. Greg Buckm... [[ Mobile Content ]] Samsung sees TV as future mobile content king http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16496.php South Korean handset and consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung believes television will become the dominant content on Latin American mobile phones in the next two to three years, Samsung product team member Andre Varga told BNamericas. ... Commonwealth Games On Mobile TV http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16505.php Telstra, Microsoft and Broadcast Australia have announced plans for Melbourne's first live demonstration showcase of mobile TV, as part of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. The Melbourne showcase service will broadcast up to seven channels of li... [[ Network Contracts ]] Contract To Expand Angolan GSM Network http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16503.php Omnitele says that it has been contracted by operator Unitel to provide support services for the network expansion projects in Angola. Unitel is one of the leading sub-Saharan operators and has operated a GSM network in Angola since early 2001. Since... [[ Network Operators ]] PRESS: Chechnya's PM says may shut down MegaFon's operations http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16489.php Russia's third largest mobile operator MegaFon may be forced to stop operations in Russia's constituent republic of Chechnya if it does not improve quality and reduce tariffs, Chechnya's Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov said, Vedomosti business daily re... [[ Offbeat ]] UK Office Workers Lack Digital Etiquette - report http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16510.php Would you consider it rude if you hadn't received a reply to an email within a morning? Almost half of UK office workers would, according to a major new study from business communications provider ntl:Telewest Business. Five per cent of people would ... [[ Personnel ]] KPN Appoints Two New Members To Management Board http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16491.php Royal KPN said Monday it intends to appoint Eelco Blok, currently Chief Operating Officer of division Fixed, and Stan Miller, responsible for KPN's international mobile activities, as members of the Board of Management of KPN by 1 July 2006. ... [[ Regulatory ]] PRESS: Russia's MTS files bid for GSM license in Egypt http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16488.php Russia's largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has filed an application to participate in the auction of a third GSM license in Egypt, MTS' spokeswoman Galina Istratova said, Vedomosti business daily reported Monday. ... [[ Reports ]] Double-digit Growth Forecast for W-CDMA RAN Equipment http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16508.php The worldwide radio access network equipment market topped US$41 billion in 2005, with 58% of that coming from GSM/GPRS/EDGE equipment, 23% from CDMA/EV-DO/EV-DV equipment, and 19% from W-CDMA equipment, according to a new report from Infonetics Rese... [[ Statistics ]] Russia's MegaFon user base in Samara region up 4.5% year-to-date http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16498.php The subscriber base of Russia?s third largest mobile operator MegaFon in the Samara Region increased 4.5% on the year to 1.15 million people as of now, MSS-Povolzhye said in a press release Monday. ... [[ Technology ]] Nokia and Deutsche Telekom Group Pilot Dual Mode Telephony http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16499.php Deutsche Telekom has launched T-One, an integrated dual-mode telephony solution combining the benefits of fixed line and mobile communications, which is being piloted on Nokia N80 and Nokia E60 devices. T-One will offer customers a simple and conveni... Nokia Launches New Frequency Set Base Station http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16502.php In anticipation of the USA regulators auction of licenses for the 1700/2100 MHz, and 700 MHz spectrum bands, Nokia has introduced the Nokia Flexi Base Station, an innovative, multi-radio platform. The Nokia Flexi Base Station enables easy deployment ... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 11:45:41 -0500 From: telecomdirect_daily Subject: TelecomDirect News Daily Update - Tuesday, March 14, 2006 Reply-To: telecomdirect_daily-owner@telecomdirectnews.com ******************************** PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents The TelecomDirect News Daily Update For March 14, 2006 ******************************** A Pricing Analysis of Broadband Take-up in Europe http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/140/17072?11228 Europe is increasingly becoming a "network society"  Our lives are defined to an extent by the social networks (real or virtual), which we participate in. We can all be perceived as nodes of information in those networks, as we convey information to people by liasing with other nodes in the same or different networks. To illustrate... Service Integration Puts OSS at Center Stage http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17068?11228 OSS is finally coming into its own, thrust into the spotlight by a confluence of technological advancement and market opportunity. Never before has the value proposition behind OSS been so central to the future of service providers' businesses. Where it was once stuck in the back office and typically focused on process improvement and... IDT completes Net2Phone Acquisition http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17064?11228 NEW YORK -- Communications company IDT Corp. completed its acquisition of the Internet telephone provider Net2Phone Inc., now a wholly owned subsidiary. Newark, New Jersey-based IDT said its NTOP Acquisition Inc. unit merged with and into Net2Phone, which offers Voice-over Internet Protocol services. Net2Phone stockholders ... Government Rules Out OTE Sale in 2006 http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17063?11228 Greek Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis has ruled out any sale of the government's 36% stake in OTE in 2006. While debunking unconfirmed reports in the financial daily Imerisia about three foreign private-equity funds' interest in the company, he insisted that his government had not been approached by anyone, and added that even if it... Telekom Austria 2005 Net Income Up 84% http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17062?11228 Telekom Austria has announced an 83.5% rise in consolidated net income to 417.1 million euro (US$498.1 million) for the 2005 financial year. The group's income growth was driven by higher operating income and lower expenses on debt repayment. In addition, lower income tax expenses, resulting mainly from a lower tax rate in Austria... Verizon: All Together Now? http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17056?11228 The time could be right for Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ - message board)'s reported $40 billion dollar bid to buy its erstwhile partner Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD - message board) out of their Verizon Wireless joint venture, according to analysts. In the past, Verizon has made no secret of its interest in buying out... Consumers Need Compelling Reason to Switch TV Service to Telcos http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17055?11228 SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- As telecom companies enter the market for TV services, they face a somewhat skeptical customer base, reports In-Stat. Only 5% of satellite or cable TV subscribers that responded to an In-Stat consumer survey said they would definitely switch to a telco TV provider, the high-tech market research firm says.... Copyright (C) 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 11:34:37 EST From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas USTelecom dailyLead March 14, 2006 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dhqQfDtutbzUglgdSp TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Verizon's FiOS TV service takes off in Texas BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * DoCoMo rival calls for wireless giant's breakup * Tiscali challenges DT on its home turf * Redback launches residential broadband product * Comcast has eye on rest of E! Entertainment * Bharti drops prices for international mobile calls USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Cutting-edge technology papers, exhibits at TelecomNEXT TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Wireless connections bring broadband to rural Virginia county * Rupert Murdoch hails the Internet revolution REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Bills would let wireless ISPs use vacant airwaves * National franchise bill unlikely to get vote this week Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dhqQfDtutbzUglgdSp ------------------------------ From: kj.davis Subject: Employment Opportunity: Jobs in the Wireless Industry Date: 14 Mar 2006 10:29:34 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Please go to the following link to view job openings with Cellular South. http://www.jobster.com/view.html?i=PKIHPIJDGCUW Thank you! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Your message posted here, Mr. Davis, but in the future it should be in the classified ads section: http://telecom-digest.org/classified.html Thanks very much. PAT] ------------------------------ From: George Mitchell Subject: Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 21:44:57 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Wesrock@aol.com wrote: > Every "emergency engine" I ever saw in a telephone building was a > conventional diesel engine. My father-in-law was shop foreman for a > company that sold and service large earth moving equipment in Enid, > Oklahoma, and from time to time they were called upon to routine the > auto-start emergency engine in the Enid c.o. It was a conventional GM > diesel engine like those used on earth moving equipment and > locomotives. > Wes Leatherock > wesrock@aol.com > wleathus@yahoo.com My memory is not as accurate as it used to be, but I have a dramatic memory from around 1968 of seeing a turbine-powered generator in the basement of 185 Franklin Street in Boston. A bunch of M.I.T. students were getting a tour of the #4 crossbar tandem, and the gentleman showing us the building actually threw the switch to fire up the turbine in test mode. I think it took over a minute to get up to full speed. -- George Mitchell P.S. The roar and clatter of those card translators is still in my memory, too. ------------------------------ From: wollman@csail.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: 208/240V, was: 25 Hz Power Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 06:34:49 UTC Organization: MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab In article , PAT wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Precisely! But a 25-watt bulb at > 240 volts in a 120 volt fixture still presents a reasonably decent > glow to point people in the direction they should walk to reach a > fire escape, for example, which is I think how he was doing it. PAT] If that were the goal, then it would make more sense to use a nuclear exit sign. The signs are illuminated by small capsules of tritium gas (a radioisotope of hydrogen manufactured in nuclear reactors) which are coated on the inside with a phosphor. The tritium decays by ejecting beta particles, which bang into the phosphor, causing it to glow. The signs have a service life of about ten years. (The half-life of the tritium that powers them is about twelve.) Garrett A. Wollman | As the Constitution endures, persons in every wollman@csail.mit.edu | generation can invoke its principles in their own Opinions not those | search for greater freedom. of MIT or CSAIL. | - A. Kennedy, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But was that type of exit sign (using tritium gas) generally avaialable in the middle 1970's, which is when I recall seeing the building janitor using his technique and discussing it? There are also exit signs illuminated with tiny little flourescent tubes are there not? I think those are sort of new, within the last 15-20 years. PAT] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Article About AM Radio Date: 14 Mar 2006 11:26:06 -0500 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) John McHarry wrote: > IBOC is claimed to make AM sound like FM, but 36kb coded 15kHz audio > is full of artifacts to a discerning ear. Mine isn't, but I worked > with MP3 (a different coding scheme) with someone who is. We had to > get that up to 128kb before he couldn't hear "flanging". The worst part of AM IBOC is that it requires cranking down the transmitted bandwidth of the analogue signal, AND it produces huge amount of adjacent-channel interference. The adjacent-channel interference has meant that many stations that were audible through most of the US at night are no longer audible at all. For the most part, I think skip is the single thing that makes AM useful, and it when it is no longer possible to listen to distant stations reliably, AM has no purpose to exist any more. FM IBOC is much better designed and actually works. Not as well as Eureka, but it's not horrible. > The real push behind this is the transmission equipment manufacturers, and > Ibiquity, who see a gold mine in the wholesale replacement of existing > transmitters, and much upstream studio equipment. Yes. > The other pusher is large networks of FM stations, including Clear > Channel, but perhaps more so, NPR. FM IBOC can be subdivided into > multiple channels, allowing a single station licensee to serve two or > three market segments. This is being tested on air as we "speak". The > scuttlebutt is that it works acceptably, although my golden eared > friend would probably yodel his lunch. My guess is that if, and it is > a big if, IBOC catches on, there will not be an increase in audio > quality, but in quantity. And that is a reaction to the competition > from satellite radio. I'm not sure multicasting will really mean much. If you look in a major market, you see dozens of stations that all are playing the same music. Adding multicast IBOC signals will double the number of stations playing the same music. This is not an improvement. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ 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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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2006 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 V25 #103 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Mar 14 23:54:36 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 024FA1561E; Tue, 14 Mar 2006 23:54:35 -0500 (EST) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #104 Message-Id: <20060315045435.024FA1561E@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 23:54:35 -0500 (EST) 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=-3.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: R TELECOM Digest Tue, 14 Mar 2006 23:56:00 EST Volume 25 : Issue 104 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Google Loses Court Case -- Mostly (Catherine Elsworth) Google Must Hand Over Some Data -- Not All Government Wanted (Howard Mintz) Google Wants to Sell Online Access to Books (Reuters News Wire) Man Charged With Hacking Into GM Database (Monty Solomon) Two-Thirds of Active U.S. Web Population Using Broadband (Monty Solomon) Party Line Ringing (Was: Re: Movie "Pillow Talk") (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Article About AM Radio (Garrett Wollman) Re: 25 Hz Railroad Power -- Book Recommendation (T) Re: Re Who Used 25 HZ Power in 50's (AES) Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) (Bruce L. Bergman) 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: Catherine Elsworth Subject: Google Loses Court Case -- Mostly Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 20:42:21 -0600 Judge tells Google it must hand over some data By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles Google will have to hand over details of users' internet searches to the United States government after a judge said the company must comply with a federal investigation. After hearing arguments in a key battle over internet data privacy, the judge said he was inclined to force the company to hand over at least some of the records sought by the justice department. The court clash followed the company's refusal to obey a subpoena demanding data on every search conducted on Google's site during a one-week period. The government argued the information was vital for its bid to restore laws protecting children from online pornography that were struck down by the US Supreme Court. Google refused, arguing that as well as jeopardising the privacy rights of internet users, the company's trade secrets were at risk because the government was seeking technical information to sort the research data. Tuesday the US government scaled back the amount of data on Google's searches it sought. James Ware, US District Court Judge for northern California, said the case was in essence about the government seeking the search data to test child-safe content filters and though "reticent" to decide on the relevance of the request, was inclined to give the government "some relief", but "not everything, no fishing allowed; a much smaller sample." The judge did not say whether the data would include words that users enter into the search engine. Copyright 2006 telegraph.co.uk ------------------------------ From: Howard Mintz Subject: Google Must Hand Over Some Data - Not All Government Asked For Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 20:50:58 -0600 Judge indicates Google must turn over some data GOV'T SCALES BACK SCOPE OF CONTROVERSIAL REQUEST AT JUDGE'S INSTRUCTION By Howard Mintz Mercury News A San Jose federal judge indicated today that he plans to order Google to relinquish at least some of its closely guarded data to the federal government, in large part because the Bush administration has dramatically limited the scope of its controversial request. In a nearly two-hour hearing, U.S. District Judge James Ware peppered lawyers for Google and the Justice Department with questions and concerns about the government's demand for a random sample of Web sites and searches that has triggered a showdown over Internet privacy rights. The government sought the data to support its defense of a law designed to shield children from adult content on the Internet. The government originally asked Google for 1 million random Web addresses and a week's worth of random search queries to assemble a study on the prevalence of sexually explicit material on the Internet and the effectiveness of Web filters in screening such material from minors. The company resisted the demand, arguing that it would expose its vault of online search habits to improper government scrutiny and threaten the privacy rights of its users. But lawyers disclosed today that the government now seeks 50,000 Web sites and 5,000 Web searches for its study, prompting Google lawyers to concede that the demand is less of a burden. After the hearing, Nicole Wong, a general counsel for Google, said the government has moved 'a long way' from its initial demand. However, Google attorney Albert Gidari still urged Ware to reject the request, saying the data was 'irrelevant' to studying Web filters and online pornography. American Civil Liberties Union lawyers, who are challenging the online child protection law in federal court in Philadelphia, also objected to handing the data to the government. During the hearing, however, Ware said he is likely to 'grant some relief' to the government, probably focused on ordering the company to provide some data on random Web addresses. The judge said he was far more concerned about releasing information that might reveal the individual search habits of Google users, expressing worry about the public's perception 'the government might be plying through the database to figure out what is going on.' The judge said "I have instructed the government to work with Google on a more realistic plan of action; the attornies for Google and the government approached me earlier Tuesday with a compromise solution they seemed to find agreeable; greatly scaled down from what the government had originally demanded. I suggest the government has some legitimate concerns here; I will give them some of what they want, but will not permit them to simply 'go fishing' as Google and others fear." Ware said he would issue a final ruling 'very soon.' The dispute erupted in January, when the Justice Department subpoenaed Google's data to assist in its defense of the Child Online Protection Act, which was put on hold two years ago by the U.S. Supreme Court. Google, backed by privacy rights advocates, resisted releasing the information, arguing that it violates the privacy rights of its users and threatens to expose the company's trade secrets. Other search engines, such as Yahoo and America Online, have complied with the government's request; Google kept refusing, and it would now appear to have gained some concessions for having done so. Contact Howard Mintz at hmintz@mercurynews.com or (408) 286-0236. Copyright 2006 MercuryNews.com and wire service sources. http://www.mercurynews.com ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Google Wants to Sell Online Access to Books Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 20:48:19 -0600 Google Inc. wants to partner with publishers in the United States and United Kingdom to sell online access to their books, the company said on its Web site on Monday. Google Book Search would allow publishers to set the prices for their books and make them available through a reader's Web browser. Consumers would not be able to save a copy on their computer or copy pages from the book. "It's a way for publishers to experiment with a new method of earning money from their books in addition to those that already exist," the company said. Five major publishers sued Google last year seeking to block the company's plans to scan copyrighted works without permission and derail its push to make many of the world's great books searchable online. Legal experts characterized that dispute as a new front in the battle over digital duplication of media including music, movies and books. Currently, Google users can view parts of books or entire books if the copyright has expired or a publisher has given permission to do so. The new service would be open to publishers in the United States and United Kingdom who participate in Google's Partner Program and can prove they have the rights to sell online access to their books, Google said. Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news from Reuters, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 17:03:23 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Man Charged With Hacking Into GM Database Man Charged With Hacking Into GM Database By TOM KRISHER Associated Press Writer DETROIT (AP) -- A former security guard at General Motors Corp.'s Warren technical center is accused of taking employee Social Security numbers and using them to hack into the company's employee vehicle database. James S. Green II, 35, of Washington Township, found out what company cars the employees drove and sent them bogus e-mails asking them their thoughts on the vehicles, Macomb County sheriff's Capt. Anthony Wickersham said Tuesday. Green was arraigned Monday on eight counts of obtaining, possessing or transferring personal identity information, one count of using a computer to commit a crime and one count of stalking that was unrelated to the GM cases. He was released after posting 10 percent of a $50,000 bond. Wickersham said Green obtained the Social Security numbers of about 100 GM employees from the Detroit area and sent them e-mails posing as a representative of GM's company vehicle evaluation program. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=56670099 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 17:13:43 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Two-Thirds of Active U.S. Web Population Using Broadband Two-Thirds of Active U.S. Web Population Using Broadband, up 28 Percent Year-Over-Year to an All-Time High, According to Nielsen//NetRatings - Mar 14, 2006 09:00 AM (PR Newswire) Video Sharing Sites - MSN Video, YouTube and Google Video - Benefit From Broadband Penetration Increase NEW YORK, March 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nielsen//NetRatings, a global leader in Internet media and market research, announced today that the number of active broadband users from home increased 28 percent year-over-year, from 74.3 million in February 2005 to 95.5 million in February 2006. Broadband composition among the U.S. active online population has seen vigorous growth during the past three years, increasing at least ten percentage points annually and hitting an all-time high of 68 percent for active Internet users in February 2006. From February 2003 to February 2004, broadband composition grew twelve percentage points, from 33 percent to 45 percent (see Table 1). In February 2005, it increased another ten percentage points to 55 percent. This year, February saw broadband composition reach an all-time high of 68 percent, increasing an impressive 13 percentage points over the previous February. Overall Internet penetration in the U.S. has stabilized over the past few years, reaching 74 percent at home in February 2006. As broadband penetration increases, so does the average PC time spent per person. With fast connections to Web sites for online photos, audio and video files, online visitors are devoting more time to their computers. Since February 2003, the average PC time per person among active Web users has increased approximately five hours from 25 and a half hours a month to 30 and a half hours a month. ... - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=56652820 ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 20:21:45 EST Subject: Party Line Ringing (Was: Re: Movie "Pillow Talk") In a note to a message dated 13 Mar 2006 12:16:55 -0800, editor@telecom-digest.org writes: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My dear departed grandmother, bless her > soul, dead now since 1978 told me about party lines and the old biddies > here in Independence/Coffeyville who had them during the 1930-40's. They > would set their phone in or upon a galvanized wash tub, then go out to > sit on the front porch on a hot summer night. Sooner or later, they > would hear the 'ticking' and 'clattering' of that wash tub as the bell > clapper on the phone would make a single strike. (Recall please that > party lines often used a system where the desired phone would ring > normally, but the other phones on the line [with their bell ringing > clappers on a different frequency] would just make a sort of feeble > 'tick sound' once and then stay silent. The old witches would be out > on their front porch trying to stay cool; one of them would hear that > greatly amplfied [by comparison because of the galvanized wash tub] > 'tick sound', excuse herself and slip inside to quietly pick up the > reciever and see _who_ had called, _who_ they were talking to, and > _what about_. They'd sit in there quietly listening to the others, and > only occassionally would another one of the biddies happen to notice > she was being spied on and angrily tell the others to get off the > line. PAT] Are you sure harmonic ringing was used in Indeependence and Coffeyville? As far as I can remember they were both always Southwestern Bell towns, and SWBT did not use harmonic ringing at all except perhaps in an exchange recently required from a non-Bell company. SWBT used divided ringing (ring or tip to ground), which provided for two different parties, divided polarized ringing (+/- ring or +/- tip to ground), which provided for four different parties with none of them hearing the other's ring. Beyond that they usually added codes (one ring, two rings, etc.). In the 1930s and 1940s I believe Independence and Coffeyville were both manual, and probably had only tip and ring to distinguish parties, the others having codes. Apropos of another thread, I notice that some Oklahoma organization or state board or agency is having a meeting or session this week in South Coffeyville, Oklahoma. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Both Independence and C'ville were always SBC towns. C'ville was cut to dial in 1956, Independence was cut to dial in 1961. I have some confusion here since my mother was born in 1922 when her parents lived in _southern Illinois_ in one of the suburbs of St. Louis. Mother said they moved to Coffeyville in 1928. To complicate matters a bit further, one of the small towns east and a bit south of Independence is _not_ SBC but was always in that rural telephone cooperative which is based further east around the Pittsburg, KS area. Grandmother is of course long since dead. But for _some_ small town telephone systems in those days, her story of setting the phone in a galvanized washtub to listen to the 'ringing' of the party-line neighbor is a logical report. Sorry I cannot be more specific. PAT] ------------------------------ From: wollman@csail.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: Article About AM Radio Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 22:57:36 UTC Organization: MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab In article , Scott Dorsey wrote: > I'm not sure multicasting will really mean much. If you look in a > major market, you see dozens of stations that all are playing the same > music. I've lived here in market #11 for twelve years, and in that time I certainly have not seen anything of the sort. The really big win in multicasting is for multi-network NPR operators. In most of the country (with the notable exception of Minnesota and Wisconsin), the second network is relegated to markedly inferior signals (e.g., WNYC 820 in New York). Multicasting gives these operators a chance to cover the same area as their primary (often class-B or class-C FM) signal with their second network -- and the listeners to those stations are often the ones who would be willing to ante up when the station offers IBOC radios as pledge premiums. If the IBOC take-up is substantial enough, in a decade or so they could sell off their second network to EMF or Calvary Chapel of Twin Falls. Garrett A. Wollman | As the Constitution endures, persons in every wollman@csail.mit.edu | generation can invoke its principles in their own Opinions not those | search for greater freedom. of MIT or CSAIL. | - A. Kennedy, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) ------------------------------ From: T Subject: Re: 25 Hz railroad power--book recommendation Organization: The Ace Tomato and Cement Company Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 17:54:05 -0500 In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com says: > I see there was a lot of interest in power distribution. There's an > excellent book that covers the history of electric propulsion on steam > railroads, "When the Steam Railroads Electrified" by William > Middleton. It is now in its second edition which contains added > information. There's a chapter on motor technology. > Railroads electrified to (1) increase track capacity since electric > trains were faster and more flexible, and (2) avoid smoke in tunnels. > A big innovation was the "multiple unit" (MU) passenger train. These > are trains, usually commuter trains or subways, that have no > locomotive. The motors are part of the carriage with the wheels and > the engineer sits in a vestibule at the front of the train. These > have the advantage of being very flexible in size--one car or 16 cars > as needed, and easy to turn around since they are bi-direction. MU > cars also accelerate faster. > With the advent of diesel engines and improved ventilation, some > tunnel electrifications were shutdown. Some commuter electrifications > were shut down as well. > The Pennsylvania Railroad had a massive electrified network for its > passenger and freight trains. While started in 1915, it reached its > peak in the 1930s. Most of the passenger network remains in place run > by commuter agencies or Amtrak, but the freight network was shutdown > after Conrail inherited the Pennsy. > Diesel locomotives are actually electric, with the generator carried > above. As such, they have many of the advantages of an electric > engine without the expense of maintaining a power distribution network > (substations and overhead wires). > Street railways and subway-elevated lines used 600 V DC and most still > do (somewhat higher voltage) to this day. The relatively low voltage > requires frequent substations. > Railroad trains used a variety of voltages and AC frequencies. As > mentioned, 11000V 25Hz was common and still in use to this day. > Opinion follows... > I am a strong proponent of electric propulsion. A modern electric > powerhouse is far more efficient due to economy of scale than an > on-board power plant could ever be. The plant could run on coal, oil, > or gas, and many can be switched from one source to another. The > exhaust can be economically cleaned up by scrubbers. Since the plant > is more efficient in the first place, more of the fuel is burned up > and less left over to go up the stack. Also, nuclear plants which do > not release air pollutants or use scarce oil can be used. > Rail is the most efficient means of travel for short distances. > Unfortunately, this country has chosen to massively invest in air and > highway and despite that investment, those modes remain overcrowded > and unable to accomodate all demand. Fast trains -- which are not > that costly to build -- should be used for regional transport needs > and would be far more efficient in terms of fuel, safety, and > pollution. We don't have the land to build more airports and roads, > and trains fit in anywhere. Planes are better for coast to coast > trips. Interestingly a few years back when they re-built PVD airport they decided to put a rail station in on Jefferson Blvd, about 1500 feet from the terminal. They'd then get people to the airport via very light rail. They're building the station as I type. They've also announced that they're going to build a station in the Wickford section of North Kinstown, RI. Also announced is that a stations will be built in Cranston, Pawtucket and Westerly RI and the MBTA has said they'll be willling to run commuter rail through RI. Finally! My guess is that it will take about five years to complete all this work. But the other thing they let on about was that MBTA will run into CT where you can pickup their transit trains and ride right into Manhattan. ------------------------------ From: AES Subject: Re: Re Who Used 25 HZ Power in 50's Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 12:59:19 -0800 Organization: Stanford University In article , John Bachtel wrote: > We understood users of 25 HZ power were electrochemicals in Niagara > Falls, like Hooker and Carboruncum as well as steel mills in Lackawana. > jrbde NR4JB Driving across Ontario from Buffalo to Detroit several times in 1949 through 1952, we stopped in restaurants where the lights had observable flicker. We were told it was 25 cycle power. ------------------------------ From: Bruce L. Bergman Subject: Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) Organization: What - I have to be organized? Why start now... Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 20:46:17 GMT On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 19:49:32 EST, Wesrock@aol.com wrote: > On 13 Mar 2006 11:02:58 -0800 hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: >> Someone mentioned Bell using jet engines for central office power >> backup. I'm kind of surprised at this. The electric companies use >> them for summer supplements. They are very expensive to run, but can >> get up to speed very quickly. I believe the phone companies use more >> conventional diesel engines to power generators. If there is a power >> failure, central office battery has enough capacity to keep things >> going for a while, more than enough time to power up a diesel engine. >> The jet engine has the advantage of being smaller.) > Every "emergency engine" I ever saw in a telephone building was a > conventional diesel engine. My father-in-law was shop foreman for a > company that sold and service large earth moving equipment in Enid, > Oklahoma, and from time to time they were called upon to routine the > auto-start emergency engine in the Enid c.o. It was a conventional GM > diesel engine like those used on earth moving equipment and > locomotives. SBC (Pacific Bell) Canoga Park CA had an International Harvester Solar gas turbine power plant on the roof for many years -- since it needed to be on the roof to conserve ground-level space for parking, they needed something light and small. Personally confirmed during a long ago Open House. I think it's still up there, but I haven't driven by the CO during a test run or power failure for many years. Sounds exactly like a jet helicopter parked on the roof at idle (muffled as much as practical) and it takes the turbine a good 30 seconds to spool up to speed and take the load. But since the switching equipment is on the battery plant, the extra delay was not a problem. --<< Bruce >>-- ------------------------------ 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 V25 #104 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Mar 15 15:11:27 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 21D5215912; Wed, 15 Mar 2006 15:11:27 -0500 (EST) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #105 Message-Id: <20060315201127.21D5215912@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 15:11:27 -0500 (EST) 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=-3.0 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, CELL_PHONE_IMPROVE autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Wed, 15 Mar 2006 15:15:00 EST Volume 25 : Issue 105 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AOL Video Service to Debut With Intel, Kraft Ads (Kenneth Li) Worldwide Child Porn Ring Used Net (Andrew Stern) Music on Hold, Digital Player (speichts) Good Writeup of Cellular Tracking in NYC Criminal Case (Danny Burstein) Cellular-News for Wednesday 15th March 2006 (Cellular-News) TelecomDirect News Daily Update - March 15, 2006 (telecomdirect_daily) Indiana Governor Signs Statewide Video Franchise (USTelecom dailyLead) Re: 208/240V, was: 25 Hz Power (sidd@situ.com) Re: 208/240V, and Re: 25 Hz Power (Paul Coxwell) Re: Party Lines (Jim) Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) (William Warren) 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. 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From: Kenneth Li Subject: AOL Video Service to Debut With Intel, Kraft Ads Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 12:51:06 -0600 By Kenneth Li AOL said it plans to launch on Wednesday one of the biggest free video services on the Internet, serving up vintage shows and short clips backed by online advertisements. The service, called In2TV, will launch with four advertisers -- Intel Corp., Kia Motors Corp., Kraft Foods Inc., and Hershey Co. "It's from the strength of the online advertising market that we can bring free on demand (videos)," Kevin Conroy, executive vice president of AOL Media Networks said in an interview. In2TV will feature thousands of shows from corporate sibling Warner Bros., which owns the rights to shows that include "Welcome Back Kotter," "Kung Fu" and "Growing Pains." AOL, the online division of Time Warner Inc., is gearing up to take on Microsoft Corp., Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Apple Computer Inc., which have their own designs on digital entertainment. AOL now sees video as a linchpin to the company's turnaround after its online presentation of the Live 8 global concerts last year were watched by more viewers than those on TV. Free videos will make up the bulk of its growth, Conroy said. "The real volume of activity is in the free streaming (video) model," he said. AOL, once known for its easy-to-use Internet dial-up modem service, has watched millions of its subscribers flee to higher speed offerings. Over the past two years, it has aimed to replace lost services revenue with online advertising. It has moved more of its once subscription-based music videos and services to its free AOL.com Web site to boost advertising. He said In2TV was in discussions with other program owners, including those not owned by Time Warner, to have their shows appear on the network. Advertisers have been keen to get placement on AOL's online video network, Conroy said. The company sold out its initial forecasts for the amount of advertising inventory on In2TV, which it has now expanded, he said. By the end of the second quarter, AOL plans to expand its video service to include paid downloads. It also plans a subscription service sometime in 2007, the company has said. Downloads are expected to cost about $1.99 per episode. NEW FEATURES ON THE DIAL Some videos will be available using a system it calls Hi-Q video format, which presents shows in DVD-quality. Users would be required to download free software to enable computers to store the videos on their hard drive. AOL, which currently lets users search for shows and videos by actor and title, in the coming weeks will allow searches by chapter or notable spots in a show. For example, actor Brad Pitt's 1987 guest appearance on "Growing Pains" would be easily searchable. "We want to make the (video) search experience more and more granular as we see search as a primary navigation tool" for video, Conroy said. AOL purchased video search engine technology company Truveo late last year and Singingfish in 2003. Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html ------------------------------ From: Andrew Stern Subject: Worldwide Child Porn Ring Used Net Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 12:53:15 -0600 By Andrew Stern U.S. and Canadian law enforcement officials said on Wednesday they had cracked an international pornography ring that featured live molestations of children streamed over the Internet. Twenty-seven people from nine U.S. states and Canada, Australia and Britain have been charged with possession, receipt, distribution and manufacture of child pornography, and all but one have been arrested, according to U.S. federal authorities and Canadian police. One of those arrested has been held since January, while others were arrested as recently as Tuesday. The one who remains at large is considered a fugitive, officials said. "This international undercover investigation revealed an insidious network that engaged in worldwide trafficking in child pornography, including live molestations of children transmitted over the Internet," U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in a statement released ahead of a visit to Chicago. Authorities have identified seven child victims, including an infant whose molestation in April by a suburban Chicago man was transmitted live via an Internet chat room to a co-conspirator who used the screen name "Big_Daddy619." Four of those charged allegedly molested the children, making the resulting images available in the chat room called "Kiddypics & Kiddyvids," that facilitated trading of thousands of images and videos, the statement said. Manufacturing child pornography carries a minimum 15-year prison sentence, while the other charges call for minimum sentences of at least five years. Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news from Reuters, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Mr4Sale Subject: Music on Hold, Digital Player Date: 15 Mar 2006 11:22:52 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com We've been using a CD/MP3 player, with a CDROM for our music on hold. Needless to say, after awhile running 7/24 for a couple of uses in an infinite loop it's starting to act up. I was thinking of moving to an MP3 player instead (no moving parts) this time. But we'd need one with an external power supply and one that could loop one track. Not to mention come back up into the proper state (looping the one track) in case of a power outage. Can anyone recommend a good player that has these features? We don't need much memory in it, it's just one track. I thought of using a sound card in a server (they tend to stay running long), but then I'd be into the "how do I keep it running" challenge. If I go that route, does anyone have a background software/service that will play .wav or .mp3 on a server out it's sound card? Thanks all. ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Good Writeup of Cellular Tracking in NYC Criminal Case Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 13:25:21 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC We techies know this, but most people don't ... Cell phones, whenever on (and there's some question about whether a few of them do so even when off) periodically "check in" with the cellular carrier. This happens both on a time basis (perhaps every ten minutes) or when moving from one tower area to another. (- paper edition had some good graphics -) How cell phone helped cops nail key murder suspect BY ALISON GENDAR and ADAM LISBERG; DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Wednesday, March 15th, 2006 No one saw the fiend who dumped Imette St. Guillen's body by the muddy shoulder of a dead-end Brooklyn road. But a tall, blue electronic sentinel stands just around the bend and sources say it puts prime suspect Darryl Littlejohn at the scene about 2 1/2 hours before St. Guillen's corpse was found. The NYPD traced Littlejohn to that lonely corner of East New York, off the Belt Parkway, by tracing the invisible "pings" that his T-Mobile cell phone sent to the antenna-studded tower, sources said. The big, blue tower apparently took notice that Littlejohn's cell phone was nearby, even though he wasn't making a call and it stored that information, which was later retrieved from T-Mobile by cops. "It's a way to track people that is stronger than relying on witnesses," a police source said. [ snip ] But even when you are not making a call, your phone is sending out a regular "check" signal. In major cities you will be within range of several phone masts. Computers can compare the signal strength emitted by your phone and the tiny time lags at each aerial, giving the operator several accurate reading s. rest at: http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/399892p-338804c.html _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News For Wednesday 15th March 2006 Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 07:53:15 -0600 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com [[ 3G ]] Nigeria Gets 1xEV-DO Network http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16521.php China's Huawei Technologies has announced that Starcomms Nigeria, Nigeria's largest private telecom operator, is to deploy Nigeria's first 1xEV-DO-based mobile broadband network. It is also one of Western Africa's first CDMA2000 1xEV-DO networks leve... HSDPA Test Calls Made In UK http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16523.php Hutchison 3G UK has announced a successful trial of High Speed Downlink Packet Access ("HSDPA") on its 3G network in the UK. The trial, which has been running for the last four months, has already delivered speeds of up to 1.4 million bits per second... Orange France Launches HSDPA Trials http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16525.php Orange France has launched a network trial based on HSDPA technology from Nortel. The trial is providing mobile broadband connectivity from 1.8 Mbps per second -- four times faster than current networks -- for 150 lead business customers in Lyon, Franc... [[ Financial ]] ETB, EPM to look at offloading Colombia Mvil http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16516.php A coordinating committee is slated to be formed this week by Colombian municipally owned telco ETB and multi-utility EPM to define the precise mechanism for handing over control of their mobile unit Ola to a future strategic partner, a top executive ... Cenbank: Slim's dominance hurts competitiveness http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16519.php Mexican telecoms incumbent Telmex and mobile telephony group America Mvil are hurting the country's competitiveness with their high rates, Mexico's central bank president Guillermo Ortiz was quoted as saying by Bloomberg news agency. ... [[ Handsets ]] Motorola Razr Reappears In Some Cingular, T-Mobile Stores http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16514.php SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (AP)--Motorola's popular Razr phone was back in Cingular and T-Mobile stores this week, making a limited reappearance after the two wireless companies temporarily stopped selling the phones because of a manufacturing defect. ... [[ Legal ]] Property fund to sell seized phones at dumping prices http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16513.php The Russian Federal Property Fund plans to sell mobile handsets and other consumer electronics seized in 2005 at dumping prices, Vedomosti business daily reported Monday. ... TruePosition Sues Over Patent Claims http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16528.php TruePosition, a provider of wireless location goods and services, says that it has sued Andrew Corporation for infringing a patent dealing with the location of cellular phones using the wireless network control channel, which is particularly importan... [[ Network Operators ]] PRESS: Russia's VimpelCom launches mobile tariff plan for hearing impaired http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16512.php Russia's second largest mobile operator VimpelCom has introduced a tariff plan called Special (Osoby) in the Sverdlovsk Region for people with hearing impairments, the company said, Kommersant business daily reported Tuesday. ... Movistar aims for 500,000 net adds http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16518.php Mobile operator Movistar Chile, the local unit of Spain's Telefonica Mviles, expects to close 2006 with 5.8 million subscribers, meaning 500,000 net adds during the year, local newspaper El Mercurio reported. ... Nigerian Operator Continues Fast Network Rollout http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16524.php Nigeria's Glo Mobile, which covered more than 35 major cities, towns and expressways at the beginning of 2006, has continued its fast-paced expansion last month, effectively covering over 30 new locations spread across the country in the last two wee... [[ Personnel ]] Regional CDMA Growth Requires Additional Resources http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16527.php The CDMA Development Group (CDG) has announced the appointment of Dr. Chungming An, as the CDG's Vice President for Greater China and Southeast Asia. Based in Taipei, Dr. An will represent the CDG and work closely with governments and regulators, as ... [[ Regulatory ]] France's Competition Watchdog Urges SMS Regulation http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16511.php France's competition watchdog is pushing for regulation that would help cut the cost of sending a text message, or SMS, and other data transmissions by mobile phone. ... Regulator may introduce fixed-to-mobile pay calls before July 1 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16520.php Russia's Federal Tariff Service may introduce paid fixed-to-mobile calls before July 1, when the law on the Calling Party Pays (CPP) principle takes effect, the service's deputy director Vitaly Yevdokimenko told reporters Tuesday. ... [[ Statistics ]] Russia's MegaFon says subscriber base in Moscow up to 3.5 mln http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16515.php The subscriber base of Russia's third largest mobile operator MegaFon in the Moscow License Area (MLA) rose to 3.5 million users as of now from 3 million people as of October 2005, Sonic Duo said in a press release Tuesday. ... Spending on Mobile Services Tops $15 Billion in Central and Eastern Europe http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16522.php Even as markets approach saturation and prices continue to fall, spending on mobile services in Central and Eastern Europe expanded last year and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. According to an IDC study of 11 markets in the region... [[ Technology ]] SR Telecom eyes local market for WiMax http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16517.php Canadian broadband fixed wireless solutions provider SR Telecom believes Mexico will be one of the top 10 countries in the world for WiMax sales in 2006, SR Telecom's marketing vice president Chad Pralle told BNamericas. ... PulseWave RF Completes Demo of Power Amp Module for Base Stations http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16526.php PropheSi Technologies, a provider of semiconductor modules for high-efficiency wireless infrastructure power amplifiers, today announced it has changed its name to PulseWave RF and that it has successfully demonstrated its digital multi-carrier power... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 11:52:03 -0500 From: telecomdirect_daily Subject: TelecomDirect News Daily Update - Wednesday, March 15, 2006 Reply-To: telecomdirect_daily-owner@telecomdirectnews.com ******************************** PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents The TelecomDirect News Daily Update For March 15, 2006 ******************************** French Competition Watchdog Wants Tougher SMS Regulation http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/100/17098?11228 France's competition watchdog, Conseil de la Concurrence, has urged the telecoms regulator (ARCEP) to implement regulation that would help reduce the cost of sending a text message by mobile phone. According to Dow Jones reports, the watchdog said the country's three main mobile phone operators exercise a significant influence over the... CTIA Urges NY to Vote for Competition http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/105/17095?11228 New York is considering a cell phone consumer protection bill, sparking debate from various groups. CTIA sees no reason to adopt the measure, saying it will only place costly and confusing regulations on wireless service delivery. It is best to let the competitive market work, according to CTIA president and CEO Steve Largent. "There is... Norway's Telenor Offers First Flat Fixed Line Phone Rates To Counter Flight To Mobile Phones http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17091?11228 OSLO, Norway -- Norway's main telecommunications group, Telenor ASA, Wednesday offered flat rates for fixed line telephone calls to counter a consumer switch to mobile phones. 'For the first time in its more than 150-year history, Telenor now introduces flat rates for regular telephony,' a statement said. 'Telenor is changing... 802.11n: Compatability Crunch? http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17084?11228 After months of infighting at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. (IEEE) over the specification of the high-speed 802.11n wireless LAN standard, Friday's vote to approve draft 1.0 seemed to be another sign that things are moving forward apace now. As always, however, things are a little different behind the... Nielsen: 'Active' Broadband Users Up 28% http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17081?11228 According to the latest estimates from Nielsen/NetRatings, the number of active U.S. broadband users who access the network from home increased 28 percent year-over-year, growing from 74.3 million in February 2005 to 95.5 million in February 2006. The broadband composition of the user base, the research firm adds, has been moving up... Sprint: Still Going Beyond 3G http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17077?11228 Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S - message board) says its next-generation, mobile multimedia network is still on track, on time, and it will happen -- even as the carrier is plowing through a sea of radio access technologies in the meantime. Sprint officials say they expect to reach "no less than 15 million Americans" via a new network... Copyright (C) 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 12:25:59 EST From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Indiana Governor Signs Statewide Video Franchise USTelecom dailyLead March 15, 2006 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/diccfDtutbAwsVSomv TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Indiana governor signs statewide video franchise law BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Vodafone's Sarin faces challenges ahead * RIM runs ad thanking supporters, urging patent reform * Verizon wins franchise deals in Delaware * Study: 68% of home-Internet users connect via broadband USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * TV's 'Apprentice' To Headline TelecomNEXT Panel TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Report: VoIP adoption up slightly * Companies launch Wi-Fi phone * Users spent $2B on Web content in 2005 * Sprint Nextel: Mobile multimedia network on track REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Mexico's top communications regulator pushes for telecom reform Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/diccfDtutbAwsVSomv ------------------------------ Subject: Re: 208/240V, was: 25 Hz Power From: sidd@situ.com (sidd) Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 04:57:56 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com In article , Danny Burstein wrote: snip-- > [a] I'd personally consider that design > to be two-phase, since the legs > are 180 degrees apart, but the > rest of the world disagrees with > me and calls it single phase. I have heard it referred to as split phase 220 ... snip-- > HOWEVER, if you grab two of the hot legs for the circuit, you're NOT > getting 240V but instead, because it's 120 degree out of phase, you > get (again, that's separate from the 120V... ) you get: > 120V * (square root of 3) = 208V Dropping alternate phases seems common all over the USA. sidd ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 06:41:06 PST From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: 208/240V, was: 25Hz Power Several points have been raised in this discussion to which I would like to respond. First, the normal 3-wire 120/240V North American service is most definitely single phase, NOT two phase. There are two "hot" legs on the supply, 180 degrees out of phase with respect to neutral/ground, but it is still a single secondary winding on the transformer. The 180-degree difference comes about only due to the center-tap position of the neutral connection. Note that the primary of the transformer is still also just a single winding with only two connections, and whether that primary is connected between phase-and-neutral or between two phases of the HV line, it still has only a single sinewave applied to it. You need some sort of third reference point to even be able to measure any sort of phase difference. Seombody mentioned a delta supply which has one phase grounded and whether that would be considered two phase. Such a system is commonly known as a "corner-grounded" delta, and it is still three phase. There are some 3-phase delta supplies which are ungrounded. Once again, the application of a ground connection to one phase to turn that into a corner-grounded delta doesn't alter the 3-phase nature of the supply -- it merely provides a reference point to ground. One arrangement which seems to be uniquely North American is the FOUR-wire delta arrangement, also known by various names such as high-leg delta, wild-leg delta, red-leg delta, and so on. To visualize this system, start with a basic ungrounded 240-volt delta secondary, drawn with phase B at the top and phases A and C at either end of the horizontal winding at the bottom. Now, instead of connecting a ground to one phase as you would for a corner-grounded delta, put a center-tap on the A-C winding. Ground that center-tap, and extend it to the building as a neutral, giving the four wires. You can now connect a 3-phase 240V delta load A-B-C as you would with the basic delta system, and you can connect a single-phase 240V load A-B, A-C, or B-C, as before. Thanks to that center-tap, you can now also connect 120V loads phase A to neutral -OR- phase C to neutral. The result of that ground placement, however, is that phase B will be at 208 volts with respect to neutral/ground, hence the various "high-leg" et al descriptions. I understand that the 4-wire delta was once common for light commercial services, as it allows for 3-phase 240V delta equipment while also providing 120V for lighting and general small loads without having to resort to adding extra transformers or installing a separate 120/240V service. Turning to the east side of the Pond, we have several differences in the way distribution is handled. Speaking for the U.K., we tend to use one very large transformer to feed a whole section of a neighborhood rather than the much greater number of smaller transformers that would provide power to an American neighborhood with a similar number of houses. Anywhere where there are more than just a few houses, you'll find a 3-phase transformer with its secondaries feeding a 415Y/240V 3-phase 4-wire wye distribution network. Individual houses then get a 2-wire 240-volt single-phase service tapped from one phase and neutral, the load being distributed between the phases as evenly as possible. In towns, that same wye network can also provide 3-phase 4-wire service for commercial power. It's possible for a VERY heavy domestic load to be provided with two or three phases, but extremely rare, and only likely to be found in a VERY large house which is all-electric. The standard 240V 2-wire residential service these days is 100 amps, which provides 24kW and is ample for most purposes. There are plenty of older services rated 80, 60, and even 40A still in service. I've even seen an old 30A service as recently as two or three years ago, although they're pretty rare now. We do also have single-phase transformers, most commonly found on poles in rural areas to serve one or two isolated houses or farms. These have a straight 240V secondary with one end grounded to provide a single-phase 240V service. Finally, out here in the boondocks you can also find 3-wire single-phase 240/480V distribution where there are a dozen or two houses scattered along a road. The system is similar to the American 120/240V arrangement with a center-tap neutral, except that each house still gets just a 2-wire connection to provide 240V and a single transformer will feed the whole lot. Although you won't find this system in towns, it's a convenient "halfway house" for some rural areas. On the primary side of these transformers, everything here is connected between phases. In fact NONE of our HV lines have a neutral run with them, so three-phase primaries are always delta-connected, and the primary on a single-phase transformer is connected across two phases of the HV. That primary supply to the final transformers is almost always 11kV (measured phase to phase), although there are still a very few local distribution networks operating at 6.6kV in a couple of areas. Thus a single-phase HV spur line has to be run as two "hot" phases. As noted before, in Continental Europe 3-phase supplies into homes are very common, however, and to British and American minds they seem to take 3-phase to extremes. In France, for example, it's not at all uncommon to find a small house which has a full 3-phase 4-wire 380Y/220V service, with the main breaker set to just 15 amps per phase! Arranging heating and cooking loads on a service like that can be quite a juggling act. I've referred to U.K. supplies as 240V, but in fact we only finally standardized on 415Y/240V in the early 1970s. Prior to that, the nominal declared voltage varied from region to region, anything between 200 and 250V with corresponding 3-phase voltages (380Y/220, 400Y/230, 433Y/250V, etc.). As noted, we're OFFICIALLY now 400Y/230V to align with European standards, although in practice most areas haven't actually changed anything yet. They just juggled the old +/-6% tolerance to an assymetric +10/-6% so that we could declare ourselves to be 230V without changing anything! We had several different frequencies in use across Britain in the early days. The push to standardize on the 50Hz that we use today came about with the plans for our "National Grid" in the 1930s. Some parts of the American west coast also had 50Hz power in earlier times. I understand that the Los Angeles area was on 50Hz originally, and converted over to 60Hz in the early 1930s, complete with publicity programs to help get clocks and other synchronous devices changed. I've seen other references which suggest that some parts of California (and maybe Oregon and Washington too) had patches of 50Hz power until the 1950s, presumably in those places which generated locally and were not connected to any sort of statewide grid. Other places have also used "oddball" frequencies. I was looking at some service manuals for old Garrard turntables (early 1950s) a couple of months ago, and noticed that they offered not only 50 and 60Hz motor pulleys but also 40Hz versions at that time. I found out from a contact "down under" that some parts of western Australia were using 40Hz power at that time. In Britain, DC supplies survived well into the 1950s and early 1960s in some urban areas (those older parts of cities which had been the first to get power). These DC systems used an Edison-type 3-wire distribution system, running at anything between 200/400 and 250/500V (this was before there was nationwide standardization of voltage). Normal domestic services were just 2-wire 200 to 250V, some houses tapped from the positive "outer," others from the negative. Commercial service could then get the full 3-wire supply so that they had 400-500V available as well. One other odd DC system which we still have is that on the London Underground (subway) system. LU uses a 4-rail arrangement, at a nominal 630V DC. However the ground reference is set on a one-third/two-thirds arrangement, so that the positive conductor rail (located outside the running rails in the usual "3rd rail" position) is at +420 volts and the negative rail (placed centrally between the running rails) is at -210 volts with respect to ground. -Paul ------------------------------ From: Jim Subject: Re: Party Lines Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:36:00 -0600 Regarding party lines ... I remember "re-grouping" subscribers in rural Iowa about 20 years ago for GTE. When one or two party line subscribers would take the leap to a private line, we would put the remaining party line members onto another line. This would keep the party lines full, and if you had the lower cost party line, you at least had to put up with a full line. Some customers would "play the system" by waiting for their partymates to upgrade to a private line, then they would be left alone on a party line. If you weren't one of the old biddies, this was just great. We didn't let this happen too often. It meant going out to the field and changing cable pairs on many folks, and we would sometimes have to use bridge lifters and bunching blocks in the CO to tie together various partymates. Of course, we had to keep good records (on paper, not computer at that time) in order to keep the right ringer frequencies together and so there wouldn't end up being two of the same frequency ringers on the same line. This was a case of trouble waiting to happen. With 4-party lines, you just had to keep track of who had a 20, 30, 40 and 50 cycle ringers. (We even had 60 cycle ringers in some exchanges, but that's another post). Early on in my career, and when I was a kid, I remember 8 party lines. You had the same ringer frequencies, but four were on one side of the line and four were on the other side, with the ground as the final ringer connection (grounded ringing). Anyway, ringing configurations have been discussed at great length in previous years on the digest. Lisa's post just reminded me of the re-grouping we used to do. Jim ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 12:21:13 -0500 From: William Warren Subject: Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) Wesrock@aol.com wrote: > On 13 Mar 2006 11:02:58 -0800 hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: >> Someone mentioned Bell using jet engines for central office power >> backup. I'm kind of surprised at this. The electric companies use >> them for summer supplements. They are very expensive to run, but can >> get up to speed very quickly. I believe the phone companies use more >> conventional diesel engines to power generators. If there is a power >> failure, central office battery has enough capacity to keep things >> going for a while, more than enough time to power up a diesel engine. >> The jet engine has the advantage of being smaller.) > Every "emergency engine" I ever saw in a telephone building was a > conventional diesel engine. My father-in-law was shop foreman for a > company that sold and service large earth moving equipment in Enid, > Oklahoma, and from time to time they were called upon to routine the > auto-start emergency engine in the Enid c.o. It was a conventional GM > diesel engine like those used on earth moving equipment and > locomotives. [snip] New England Telephone went with turbine-powered alternators in the large Boston-area buildings, most with capacities far in excess of what was required for the C.O. itself: the unit at Back Bay was rated at 2500 KW. If I had to guess, I'd say they got a good deal because Allison and other turbine manufacturers were selling the aeronautical power units that they had stockpiled during the Vietnam war. The power technicians didn't like them, because they were a major change from the diesel units, but they could power a small city and they were, as I said, used to generate power for the commerical grid during summer peak load periods. Suburban offices with more modest needs remained on diesel. William Warren (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) ------------------------------ 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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End of TELECOM Digest V25 #105 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Mar 16 15:15:22 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 3C3F415239; Thu, 16 Mar 2006 15:15:22 -0500 (EST) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #106 Message-Id: <20060316201522.3C3F415239@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 15:15:22 -0500 (EST) 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=-3.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_REMOVE,ONE_TIME autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 16 Mar 2006 15:17:00 EST Volume 25 : Issue 106 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Cable Industry Refuses to Run Verizon TV Commercial (Monty Solomon) In2TV - The First Broadband Television Network (Monty Solomon) Walmart Marches Onward; Now 2000 Strong (TELECOM Digest Editor) End of The Line for Cramming? (Federal Trade Commission) What Phone Company Has Clearest Audio? (skunker@gmail.com) Voip Translating and Learning Tutorial (blentoo@gmail.com) Are Cellular Base Station Antennas Worth Anything? (John L) Is This Phone Monopoly Legal? (Cyron) Cellular-News for Thursday 16th March 2006 (Cellular-News) TelecomDirect News Daily Update - March 16, 2006 (telecomdirect_daily) Rotary Service Primary in World? (Lisa Hancock) Get Rid of Your Phone Vendor? (3z3k3l) Re: Employment Opportunity: Jobs in the Wireless Industry (3z3k3l) Re: Music on Hold, Digital Player (Klay Anderson) Re: Music on Hold, Digital Player (Carl Navarro) Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) (T) Re: Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas (3z3k3l) Re: 208/240V, was: 25Hz Power (Paul) Re: Good Writeup of Cellular Tracking in NYC Criminal Case (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 22:57:59 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cable Industry Refuses to Run Verizon TV Commercial Cable Industry Refuses to Run Verizon TV Commercial Promoting Video Choice and Competition - Mar 15, 2006 12:00 PM (PR Newswire) Corporate Decisions Attempt to Stifle Free Speech in Cable TV Debate TRENTON, N.J., March 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite running virtually nonstop TV commercials attacking Verizon's efforts to speed choice and competition in New Jersey's cable TV market, two of the nation's largest cable companies are refusing to run a paid TV commercial from Verizon that asks consumers to support video choice. A third cable company did not respond to Verizon's request. In separate responses, managers and account executives at Comcast and Time Warner said they are unwilling to accept the paid TV commercial sent by Verizon. Account representatives at Cablevision did not respond to Verizon's e-mails seeking placement. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=56698643 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 23:04:13 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: In2TV - The First Broadband Television Network AOL and Warner Bros. Launch In2TV - The First Broadband Television Network - Mar 15, 2006 09:15 AM (BusinessWire) DULLES, Va. & BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 15, 2006--America Online, Inc.: Thousands of Classic TV Shows To Be Available Free and On Demand on AOL.com, Including Welcome Back, Kotter, Chico & The Man, Alice, Growing Pains, Sisters, Kung Fu, Lois & Clark and More Gabe Kaplan of Welcome Back, Kotter to Host Launch Celebration at Museum of Television & Radio in Los Angeles Late Actor/Comedian Freddie Prinze to Be Honored with First 'In2TV Influencer Award' AOL and Warner Bros. are saying "Welcome Back" to thousands of classic TV shows with the launch of In2TV, the first broadband television network, on AOL.com. The network offers the largest collection of free on-demand TV shows on the Web, including full episodes of favorite Warner Bros. programs from the past 40 years such as Welcome Back, Kotter, Chico & The Man, Alice, Growing Pains, Sisters, Kung Fu, Lois & Clark and many others, along with interactive features and viral videos that enable audiences to experience and interact with television programming in an entirely new way. To celebrate the launch, AOL and Warner Bros. will host an event tonight at the Museum of Television and Radio in Beverly Hills, with stars from the In2TV programming lineup scheduled to make appearances. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=56692337 ------------------------------ Subject: Walmart Marches Onward Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 15:26:19 EST From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Wal-Mart Opens 2000th Supercenter. In its insistence to force small town merchants everywhere out of business and force the few which remain to do things in their style, Walmart is now up to 2000 Supercenters. What's in a number you ask? For Wal-Mart and shoppers across the country, big savings. This month the retail leader will open its 2000th Supercenter in Beaumont, California, about an hour east of Los Angeles. Read about it at http://media.medialink.com/home.aspx?story_31749 ------------------------------ From: Federal Trade Commission Subject: End of The Line For Cramming? Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 14:38:04 -0600 Defendants Collected Millions For Collect Calls That Were Not Made At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a federal judge has halted a massive fraudulent billing scheme that has collected more than $25 million in bogus collect call charges from hundreds of thousands of consumers. The FTC charged three companies and their principals with deceptive and unfair billing practices for "cramming" - the unauthorized billing of charges on phone bills - since at least January 2004. "Charging consumers for bogus collect calls is stealing," said Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection." The Federal Trade Commission will not tolerate crooks who cram unauthorized charges onto phone bills." The FTC's complaint alleges that, in many instances, the defendants initiated phony collect call charges, such as calls to telephone lines that were dedicated to computers and fax machines, and to phones where no one was present. In addition, some consumers' caller ID logs had no record of collect calls for which they were billed. The FTC charged the defendants with violating Section 5 of the FTC Act by representing that consumers owed money they did not owe, and by causing consumers to be billed for collect phone calls they neither received nor authorized. According to the FTC's complaint, the defendants claimed that they submitted charges for billing on consumers' bills on behalf of long distance service providers, although the defen- dants have few, if any, long distance carriers as clients. The defendants' charges typically were buried on the last page of consumers' phone bills, with each charge typically in the range of $5 to $8. On February 27, Senior Judge Kenneth Ryskamp ordered an ex parte tempo- rary restraining order freezing the assets of Nationwide Communications Inc., Access One Communications Inc., Network One Services Inc., and their principals, Willoughby Farr, Mary Lou Farr, Yaret Garcia, Erika Riaboukha, and Qaadir Kaid. The order appointed a temporary receiver over them and banned them from engaging in unauthorized billing. On March 8, the court found that the defendants engaged in the widespread unauthorized billing of collect calls in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act and entered a preliminary injunction order prohibiting them from billing or submitting any charge for billing on a consumer's telephone bill. The order continued the asset freeze over them and appointed a permanent receiver over Nationwide Communications, Access One Communications, Network One Services, and certain affiliated entities. The FTC ultimately seeks to permanently bar the defendants from further violations, make them forfeit their ill-gotten gains, and make them pay restitution to consumers. The Commission approved the filing of the complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida by a 5-0 vote. NOTE: The Commission authorizes the filing of a complaint when it has 'reason to believe' that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The complaint is not a finding or ruling that the defendant has actually violated the law. The case will be decided by the court. Copies of the complaint are available from the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information on 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish (bilingual counselors are available to take complaints), or to get free information on any of available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. MEDIA CONTACTS: Mitch Katz, Office of Public Affairs Federal Trade Commission 202-326-2161 Frank Dorman, Office of Public Affairs 202-326-2674 STAFF CONTACT: Laura M. Kim, Attorney Division of Marketing Practices 202-326-3734 (http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2006/03/nationwide.htm) Related Documents : Federal Trade Commission, Plaintiff, vs. Nationwide Connections, Inc., Access One Communications, Inc., Network One Services, Inc. Willoughby Farr, Mary Lou Farr, Yaret Garcia, Erika Riaboukha, Qaadir Kaid, Defendants; United States District Court Southern District of Florida. Civil Action No.: 06-80180; FTC File No.: 052 3141 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: While this report _is_ quite good news, one pre-emptive strike everyone can take to assure this problem is at a minimum is to ask your local telco (typically, they are the billing agents for all telcos) to put a 'third party/collect block' on your lines. All the legitimate telcos at least, such as Verizon, SBC, Bell South, etc. share a common database of subscribers who do not want _any_ 'third party billings/collect calls' on their line for any reason at any time. When a caller does '00+' for example, and requests permission to bill a call to your line, or if you are willing to accept a 'collect call', this database is 'dipped' and the answer given is 'no way, Jose' or words to that effect. The calling party is then asked to provide an alternative way to bill for the call they wish to make. Of course, you also want to tell your telco to put a 900/976 block on your line as well. Given that collect calls are _so_ expensive these days, and toll-free 800 calls are so cheap, I do not know why anyone -- if they have some reason to accept calls that they have to pay for -- would not go with an 800 number instead of collect. Telco does not absolutely guarentee that a 'collect call/third party block' will work mainly since not all telcos -- at leest the sleazy ones, subscribe to the database dip. But, if a call gets billed to your number after you have instructed telco against same, they will remove it. I've had that on my lines for years with success, and although some telcos make a one time charge for being listed in the negative database, they are _not permitted_ to charge if you want to be listed in the 900/976 portion of the database. Bear in mind however this can pose problems if you need to accept collect calls from a correctional center. PAT] ------------------------------ From: skunker@gmail.com Subject: What Phone Company has Clearest Audio? Date: 15 Mar 2006 12:48:36 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi folks, I have hearing loss and have recently purchased a corded phone from a company called CLARITY (the quality is great). They make phones that have digital amplification. My question: I have AT&T/SBC phone service but not a long-distance carrier. AT&T/SBC offers their own long-distance carrier for like $20 or something a month extra. I started shopping around for a cheaper alternative and looked at VONAGE. In VONAGE's features list, they claimed they had "Higher quality calls than landline in many cases". Is this true? If so, how? The clearer the audio, the better. Is there a better service than VONAGE that carry clear long-distance calls? At this point I am not concerned of cost if it means I'll get better quality. Thanks for any advice on this matter. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For VOIP in general, including Vonage, the answer is a qualified _yes_ and _no_. Maybe, and maybe not. If you use a router, with various computers on line _and_ VOIP (Vonage or whomever) then sometimes it gets tricky in 'throttling' the line in such a way as to give all or most of your DSL/broadband capacity to the VOIP device instead of your computers, which are fighting to get their share (sometimes more than their share) of the highway. Basically, IMO, the answer would be a qualified _yes_, Vonage (or the other VOIP carrier of your choice) is pretty decent as long as you do not have a bunch of jobs running on the computer at the same time. You do know, of course, you have to have some broadband connection, either cable or DSL or similar, and if either the cable/DSL line is out or the electric power is down, your Vonage line is dead as well, unless you have battery backup on it, which most people do not have. Personally, I would keep a very slim package of LD on my basic line to use as needed. Although I make all my LD/toll calls by dialing '8' for the Vonage line on my PBX, I can, and grudgingly do dial '9' (regular landline) as needed for LD sometimes. PAT] ------------------------------ From: blentoo@gmail.com Subject: Voip Translating and Learning Tutorial Date: 15 Mar 2006 13:45:47 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Voip Translating and Learning Tutorial How this is possible, what systems are used, what is the standard, all that is covered by this Howto. http://www.freewebs.com/voipformula/VoIP-HOWTO.html ------------------------------ Date: 15 Mar 2006 22:22:26 -0500 From: John L Subject: Are Cellular Base Station Antennas Worth Anything? My village has an old water tower on which Cingular and Sprint erected base station antennas. We built a new water tower, and they put new antennas on it, abandoning the old ones. Sometime in the near future, weather permitting, we're going to take down the old tower, and it would probably be easy for me to buy the old antennas for their scrap metal value. So my question is, are the antennas worth anything? The Cingular antennas are for the 800 MHz AMPS band, three whip antennas, basically pointy metal sticks pointing straight up. The Sprint antennas are for the PCS 1900 MHz band, curved panels. All have tails of coax that they cut when they removed the transmitters. Any advice? Sell them on ebay? Don't waste my time? Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://iecc.com/johnl, Mayor "I dropped the toothpaste", said Tom, crestfallenly. ------------------------------ From: Cyron Subject: Is This Phone Monopoly Legal? Date: 15 Mar 2006 23:18:32 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have some friends who live in a city of approximately 25,000. I would like for them to obtain broadband internet services, however they have absolutely no selection when it comes to internet service providers. The entire city (aside from those using wireless phone service) are forced to use the services of the local telephone company. In past years, local internet service providers have sprung up -- only to be bought out by the local telephone company. I wouldn't care so much except that this telephone company does not have competitve rates at all. Currently they are charging $20/month for dialup internet service ($40 if you count the phone line), $60/month ($80 with the phone line) for a 750k/750k DSL line. There is no Sprint, AT&T, MCI, etc to turn to as an alternative. I'm paying about $30/month for 6Mb/1.5Mb with basic cable -- I can choose from a variety of cable, telephone and dsl providers. Please tell me something illegal is being done with respect to my friends and what can they do about it? Does the FCC handle such issues? Thanks, Mike ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Thursday 16th March 2006 Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 07:45:34 -0600 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com [[ Financial ]] Telenor Hopeful Of Soon Solving Conflict With Alfa http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16532.php Norway telecommunications operator Telenor said it's more hopeful of settling its conflict with financial-industrial group Alfa Group in Russia after state officials of the two countries met. ... Mobile operators reimbursing up to US$325mn http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16537.php Argentine mobile operators have started to reimburse clients to the tune of nearly 1bn pesos (US$325mn) following an order from the communications ministry SeCom, local press reported. ... Russia's MTS reiterates want of control over MTS Belarus http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16538.php Russia's largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) is ready to resume talks on buying a controlling stake in its affiliate MTS Belarus, Pavel Pavlovsky, MTS' foreign subsidiaries development department director, told a news conference Wednesda... Russia's VolgaTelecom says to merge its mobile assets http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16539.php The board of directors of Russia's regional fixed-line operator VolgaTelecom has decided to merge its mobile assets into its Nizhegorodskaya Sotovaya Svyaz, or NSS, mobile operator, VolgaTelecom said in a statement Wednesday. ... [[ Handsets ]] Australia's Telstra Signs Agreement With Brightstar http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16529.php Australia's Telstra said Wednesday it has signed a three year agreement with Miami-based wireless distributor and supply chain solutions provider Brightstar Logistics Pty Ltd. to improve the performance of its supply chain. ... Motorola Executive:Co Gaining Market Share In All Region http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16533.php Motorola added to its share of the global cell-phone market in the first quarter, according to a Motorola executive. ... Infosonics enters agreement to distribute Alcatel, TCL brand phones http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16534.php Wireless handsets and accessories distributor InfoSonics has entered a distribution agreement with T&A Mobile Phones for the Caribbean region, InfoSonics said in a statement. ... BenQ earmarks US$35mn for local R&D http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16536.php Taiwanese handset manufacturer BenQ Mobile plans to invest 75mn reais (US$35.1mn) in research and development of new products at its Manaus plant in northern Brazil this year, reported local financial newspaper Valor Econmico. ... [[ Network Contracts ]] Nokia: Vodafone Japan To Use Intellisync Sync Server http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16530.php Nokia, Wednesday said Vodafone Group's unit in Japan is using its Intellisync Sync Server to launch a new service. ... [[ Network Operators ]] Vimpelcom To Invest $150 Million In Moscow Network In 2006 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16531.php Russia's second largest mobile phone operator, Vimpel Communications, or VimpelCom, plans to invest $150 million in improving the quality of its network in key Moscow regions in 2006, the company's general manager for the Moscow region, Dmitry Plesko... [[ Offbeat ]] Vodafone, Ericsson At Odds Over Greek Wiretap Scandal http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16540.php ATHENS (AP)--The head of Ericsson's operations in Greece on Wednesday disputed an account given by telecom giant Vodafone about a major wiretapping scandal that included illegal surveillance of the country's prime minister. ... [[ Regulatory ]] Cofetel: Telecoms sector grows 21.5% in 2005 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16535.php Mexico's telecommunications sector grew 21.5% in 2005 compared to 2004, according to telecoms regulator Cofetel's production sector index ITEL. ... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 11:32:01 -0500 From: telecomdirect_daily Subject: TelecomDirect News Daily Update - Thursday, March 16, 2006 Reply-To: telecomdirect_daily-owner@telecomdirectnews.com ******************************** PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents The TelecomDirect News Daily Update For March 16, 2006 ******************************** Vodafone Live! Hits 10 mil. Users http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/100/17118?11228 Some respite has arrived for embattled mobile giant Vodafone, with the company announcing a milestone user figure for its 3G  service two weeks ahead of target. In a press release, the company revealed that it had set a 31 March 2006 target to reach the 10 million-user mark when it launched 3G services in November... Orange- and Vodafone-Backed X-Pay Wins Support http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/100/17116?11228 x-Pay -- a mobile payment model backed by Orange and Vodafone -- has garnered the backing of leading mobile content enabler Bango. In a statement yesterday, Bango said that it will support the model and has already worked out a detailed plan on how to make it a trusted and universal mechanism for paying for mobile internet content.... GAO Report Finds Delays in E911 Upgrades http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/110/17112?11228 NEW YORK -- Despite an end-of-2005 goal to equip all emergency dispatch centers with the ability to locate a cell phone user who dials 911, a congressional report finds that some states will need another five years or more, while others may never reach full availability. The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of... FCC Proposes New Fines for Indecent TV http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/130/17110?11228 WASHINGTON -- The government is renewing its crackdown on indecent television, proposing a total of $3.9 million in new fines while upholding its $550,000 fine against CBS stations for the Janet Jackson breast exposure at the Super Bowl. The biggest proposed fine issued Wednesday by the Federal Communications Commission was for $3.6... Iliad Profits From Triple Play http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/140/17105?11228 Anyone who invested in alternative French operator Iliad (Euronext: ILD - message board) when it floated on the Paris exchange at Euro 16.30 in January 2004 has the right to feel pretty smug today. (See Investors Go Mad for Free Shares.) The company, which derives 80 percent of its revenues from triple-play service provider Free , saw... Iliad Profits From Triple Play http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/110/17104?11228 Anyone who invested in alternative French operator Iliad (Euronext: ILD - message board) when it floated on the Paris exchange at Euro 16.30 in January 2004 has the right to feel pretty smug today. (See Investors Go Mad for Free Shares.)The company, which derives 80 percent of its revenues from triple-play service provider Free , saw its... Mobile Spending Up in Central/Eastern Europe http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/100/17101?11228 Despite turbulent times in Central and Eastern Europe, the region is ripe for increased mobile spending, according to a new report coming out of IDC. In total, 11 markets in the region posted spending growth. In total, the 11 markets recorded a 13.5 percent increase in spending in 2005 to $15.12 billion. IDC predicts that total should... Copyright (C) 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Rotary Service Primary in World? Date: 16 Mar 2006 08:11:19 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I get the impression that almost all countries use Touch Tone service on their telephones. For places that never had much landline service to begin with, people are heavy into cellular, which of course is Touch Tone. (Apparently in an undeveloped place it's cheap to build a new cellular network than landline since stringing wires house-to-house and store-to-store are not required.) Anyway, I was wondering if there were any places where legacy rotary dial switchgear was still the primary method of handling calls. I tend to doubt it since electronics are so much cheaper and easier to maintain. Rotary equipment required skilled maintenance. Public replies, please. ------------------------------ From: 3z3k3l Subject: Get Rid of Your Phone Vendor? Date: 15 Mar 2006 20:33:25 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com http://www.pbxlance.com, a new telephone freelance website, has been recently launched allowing businesses to get rid of their phone vendors. Businesses are using the power of the internet and secure remote tools to utilize certified engineers remotely. This service allows businesses, who were once bound by single proprietary vendors, to contract out or send out for bidding, simple moves, adds, changes and request for quotes for their phone systems. This shifts the buying power and control to the end user and allows the business to set the price and choose the time. "This undertaking creates a paradigm shift for the telephone industry." says Rick Cruz owner of PBXLance.com, "No longer do businesses have to depend on sometimes slow or unreliable phone vendors for service. PBXLance.com gives them options that just didn't exist before." Traditionally phone systems are proprietary in nature and require specialized training and certifications to program them; thus the need for specialized vendors. Now with secure remote access; moves, adds and changes can be completed remotely from qualified individuals in a matter of minutes rather then days or sometimes even weeks. PBXLance.com offers free templates for requests for quotes, and even allows job postings to their network of freelancers. There are certifications which freelancers can attain in order to verify their information for safety purposes. Also businesses can be verified so freelancers can rest easy and know they will be paid for their work. PBXLance.com also offers a safe escrow service to protect both sides from financial harm. PBXLance.com is a division of Pbxinfo.com, a free Pbx information site, with over 17,000 registered phone system professionals. PBXLance.com strives to bring businesses and qualified phone system individuals together to complete telephony projects remotely and efficiently. http://www.pbxlance.com What do you guys think? ------------------------------ From: 3z3k3l Subject: Re: Employment Opportunity: Jobs in the Wireless Industry Date: 15 Mar 2006 20:34:48 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com There are lots of PBX and Telecom Jobs at http://www.pbxjobs.com and http://www.pbxlance.com as well. Good Luck! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Once again, I wish to point out that employment opportunities (legitimate ones, that is, admittedly few and far between relative to the scams and spams on this net) are better off placed in our classified area: http://telecom-digest.org/classified.html Just five dollars, on an honor system using PayPal's on-location template, buys you a month of whatever you wish to promote in employment, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Klay Anderson Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 17:35:20 -0700 Organization: Klay Anderson Audio, Inc. Subject: Re: Music on Hold, Digital Player In article , Mr4Sale wrote: > We've been using a CD/MP3 player, with a CDROM for our music on hold. > Needless to say, after awhile running 7/24 for a couple of uses in an > infinite loop it's starting to act up. I was thinking of moving to an > MP3 player instead (no moving parts) this time. But we'd need one > with an external power supply and one that could loop one track. As the above is technically illegal, why not subscribe to and use XM Radio? Regards, Klay Anderson http://www.klay.com +801-942-8346 ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Music on Hold, Digital Player Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 04:26:15 GMT Organization: Road Runner High Speed Online http://www.rr.com On 15 Mar 2006 11:22:52 -0800, Mr4Sale wrote: > We've been using a CD/MP3 player, with a CDROM for our music on hold. > Needless to say, after awhile running 7/24 for a couple of uses in an > infinite loop it's starting to act up. I was thinking of moving to an > MP3 player instead (no moving parts) this time. But we'd need one > with an external power supply and one that could loop one track. > Not to mention come back up into the proper state (looping the one > track) in case of a power outage. Can anyone recommend a good player > that has these features? We don't need much memory in it, it's just > one track. > I thought of using a sound card in a server (they tend to stay running > long), but then I'd be into the "how do I keep it running" challenge. > If I go that route, does anyone have a background software/service > that will play .wav or .mp3 on a server out it's sound card? This is a little pricey if you have to get the "Professional" edition, but the basic MOH player is only $28 to licence (sic). http://www.nch.com.au/ims/index.html Carl Navarro ------------------------------ From: T Subject: Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) Organization: The Ace Tomato and Cement Company Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 18:14:56 -0500 In article , william_warren_nonoise@speakeasy.net says: > Wesrock@aol.com wrote: >> On 13 Mar 2006 11:02:58 -0800 hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: >>> Someone mentioned Bell using jet engines for central office power >>> backup. I'm kind of surprised at this. The electric companies use >>> them for summer supplements. They are very expensive to run, but can >>> get up to speed very quickly. I believe the phone companies use more >>> conventional diesel engines to power generators. If there is a power >>> failure, central office battery has enough capacity to keep things >>> going for a while, more than enough time to power up a diesel engine. >>> The jet engine has the advantage of being smaller.) >> Every "emergency engine" I ever saw in a telephone building was a >> conventional diesel engine. My father-in-law was shop foreman for a >> company that sold and service large earth moving equipment in Enid, >> Oklahoma, and from time to time they were called upon to routine the >> auto-start emergency engine in the Enid c.o. It was a conventional GM >> diesel engine like those used on earth moving equipment and >> locomotives. > [snip] > New England Telephone went with turbine-powered alternators in the > large Boston-area buildings, most with capacities far in excess of > what was required for the C.O. itself: the unit at Back Bay was rated > at 2500 KW. > If I had to guess, I'd say they got a good deal because Allison and > other turbine manufacturers were selling the aeronautical power units > that they had stockpiled during the Vietnam war. > The power technicians didn't like them, because they were a major > change from the diesel units, but they could power a small city and > they were, as I said, used to generate power for the commerical grid > during summer peak load periods. > Suburban offices with more modest needs remained on diesel. > William Warren > (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) I'm not certain but I think one is also on the PVDRIWADS02 switching center, except that it isn't on the roof but built between the old and new buildings. I've heard it on several occasions and it does sound like a chopper at idle. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am reminded of the old 'Kenwood Bell' (Illinois Bell's Chicago-Kenwood central office in its crossbar switching days) at 61st and Kenwood Avenue on a hot summer evening many years ago. With all the windows open (air conditioning was not yet invented, I do not think) you could hear that thing at least a block or two away down the street as you walked up to and past the property. PAT] ------------------------------ From: 3z3k3l Subject: Re: Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas Date: 15 Mar 2006 20:36:55 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I use Fios and it is AWESOME! 15MB to the internet; you can't beat a clean fiber connection to the internet. They recently announced you will be able to get "cable" or basically 180 digital channels. They are basically doing the monopoloy thing again, they are running the fiber right to the house! We can get our phone, internet and now 180 cable tv channels through them! It beats cable hands down. Speeds are tremendous and no slow downs during the week! ------------------------------ From: Paul Subject: Re: 208/240V, was: 25Hz Power Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 15:38:55 UTC Organization: Me Paul Coxwell wrote in news:telecom25.105.9 @telecom-digest.org: > Several points have been raised in this discussion to > which I would like to respond. > [...] Thank you for the great write-up. My father was a power EE, and I had worked some as an electrician, so I have picked up some of this info over the years. I especially remember my father describing the high-leg delta connection when I was a kid, but I never ran into one in practice. > On the primary side of these transformers, everything here is > connected between phases. In fact NONE of our HV lines have a neutral > run with them, so three-phase primaries are always delta-connected, > and the primary on a single-phase transformer is connected across two > phases of the HV. That primary supply to the final transformers is > almost always 11kV (measured phase to phase), although there are still > a very few local distribution networks operating at 6.6kV in a couple > of areas. Thus a single-phase HV spur line has to be run as two "hot" > phases. Is the generator end wye-connected for a ground (earth?) reference, or is there ground fault detection circuitry on delta connected generators? Or is ground reference / ground fault not as big a concern there as here? Just curious. > As noted before, in Continental Europe 3-phase supplies into homes are > very common, however, and to British and American minds they seem to > take 3-phase to extremes. In France, for example, it's not at all > uncommon to find a small house which has a full 3-phase 4-wire > 380Y/220V service, with the main breaker set to just 15 amps per > phase! Arranging heating and cooking loads on a service like that can > be quite a juggling act. I can imagine. Is something like an electric range connected to 380? Is it wired single phase or three phase? Thanks, Another Paul ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Good Writeup of Cellular Tracking in NYC Criminal Case Date: 16 Mar 2006 08:06:57 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Danny Burstein wrote: > We techies know this, but most people don't ... Cell phones, whenever > on (and there's some question about whether a few of them do so even > when off) periodically "check in" with the cellular carrier. This > happens both on a time basis (perhaps every ten minutes) or when > moving from one tower area to another. Big brother is watching us. In addition to tracking by cell phone towers, we may be tracked by use of fare instruments such as electronic transit fare cards (ie NYC "MetroCard", or highway toll cards (ie EZPASS). They can track usage of credit cards and ATM cards. The cost of closed circuit TV recording systems has dropped tremendously and they are in a great many places recording our every move. Many cameras are outdoors, operated by building owners or the government. Recently, a Florida man was convicted and sentenced to death for killing a girl. A camera captured his original assault on the girl. So on the good side this electronic surveillance is helping to catch criminals after a crime as we are seeing on the news these days. It appears that vicious man in Florida certainly deserved his death sentence for what he did to the poor girl. However: Does this surveillance deter crime? Are we safer because of the surveillance? Are there any drawbacks to all this surveillance? What happens if someone steals my cellphone and while holding it, he/she goes out and commits a crime. (I don't use my phone very much so I wouldn't know it's missing for some time). Will I get blamed for it? Some of the video images of stores are quite grainy. Is it possible to have mistaken identity? Recently a photo of a wanted holdup man was shown on TV; he looked very much like a friend of mine. My friend got numerous phone calls about it. ------------------------------ 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 2006 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 V25 #106 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Mar 16 23:44:49 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 81244156A8; Thu, 16 Mar 2006 23:44:49 -0500 (EST) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #107 Message-Id: <20060317044449.81244156A8@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 23:44:49 -0500 (EST) 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=-3.6 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, ITS_LEGAL,MAILTO_TO_REMOVE autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 16 Mar 2006 23:48:00 EST Volume 25 : Issue 107 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Cellphone Technical Question (Michael Muderick) Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) (Carl Zwanzig) Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) (T) Re: Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas (Ed Clarke) Re: Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas (T) Re: Are Cellular Base Station Antennas Worth Anything? (Koos van den Hout) Re: Are Cellular Base Station Antennas Worth Anything? (William Warren) Re: Is This Phone Monopoly Legal? (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com) Re: Rotary Service Primary in World? (Carl Navarro) Re: Music on Hold, Digital Player (Bob Vaughan) Re: Buffalo NY 25 hz Power (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: What Phone Company has Clearest Audio? (John L) 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: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 17:57:00 -0500 From: Michael Muderick Subject: Cellphone Technical Question If I leave my cell phone near my computer speakers I will hear occasional buzzing, clicking, etc. Before the phone begins to ring, I hear a dah..dah.daahhhhh. I know this is RF interference being picked up by the amplifier in the speaker. If one were to record this sound with a microphone at 11 or 22Khz, would it be possible to obtain any information (usable signal) from the recorded audio? Thanks, Michael@muderick.com ------------------------------ From: zbang@radix.net (Carl Zwanzig) Subject: Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 22:16:00 -0000 Organization: RadixNet Internet Services >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A water cooler with a DC motor is >> interesting; but did you ever see a _refrigerator_ powered by -gas- >> rather than -electricity-? I had one of those in a long since for- >> gotten apartment in Chicago back in the 1960's. No motor of course, no >> compressor, etc, but it was a refrigerator, freezer, etc, and I think >> (cannot remember for sure) it was manufactured by 'Frigidaire >> Company'. Totally silent of course. I have no idea how it worked; if >> I ever knew, I have since forgotten. PAT] Just to muddy the waters a bit -- in some cities, San Francisco for instance, some apartment blocks had ammonia-cycle cold boxes in each apartment. These were supplied by an ammonia compressor in the basement. ISTR that maybe once a year, the SF fire department finds a leak. Even though the system might have been turned off years ago, there's stll gas in the pipes. A friend lived in one of these place for a while. Unfortunately, I can't find a good cite for this. z! ------------------------------ From: T Subject: Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) Organization: The Ace Tomato and Cement Company Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 21:23:56 -0500 In article , nospam.kd1s@cox.nospam.net says: > In article , > william_warren_nonoise@speakeasy.net says: >> Wesrock@aol.com wrote: >>> On 13 Mar 2006 11:02:58 -0800 hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: >>>> Someone mentioned Bell using jet engines for central office power >>>> backup. I'm kind of surprised at this. The electric companies use >>>> them for summer supplements. They are very expensive to run, but can >>>> get up to speed very quickly. I believe the phone companies use more >>>> conventional diesel engines to power generators. If there is a power >>>> failure, central office battery has enough capacity to keep things >>>> going for a while, more than enough time to power up a diesel engine. >>>> The jet engine has the advantage of being smaller.) >>> Every "emergency engine" I ever saw in a telephone building was a >>> conventional diesel engine. My father-in-law was shop foreman for a >>> company that sold and service large earth moving equipment in Enid, >>> Oklahoma, and from time to time they were called upon to routine the >>> auto-start emergency engine in the Enid c.o. It was a conventional GM >>> diesel engine like those used on earth moving equipment and >>> locomotives. >> [snip] >> New England Telephone went with turbine-powered alternators in the >> large Boston-area buildings, most with capacities far in excess of >> what was required for the C.O. itself: the unit at Back Bay was rated >> at 2500 KW. >> If I had to guess, I'd say they got a good deal because Allison and >> other turbine manufacturers were selling the aeronautical power units >> that they had stockpiled during the Vietnam war. >> The power technicians didn't like them, because they were a major >> change from the diesel units, but they could power a small city and >> they were, as I said, used to generate power for the commerical grid >> during summer peak load periods. >> Suburban offices with more modest needs remained on diesel. >> William Warren >> (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) > I'm not certain but I think one is also on the PVDRIWADS02 switching > center, except that it isn't on the roof but built between the old and > new buildings. I've heard it on several occasions and it does sound > like a chopper at idle. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am reminded of the old 'Kenwood Bell' > (Illinois Bell's Chicago-Kenwood central office in its crossbar > switching days) at 61st and Kenwood Avenue on a hot summer evening > many years ago. With all the windows open (air conditioning was not > yet invented, I do not think) you could hear that thing at least a > block or two away down the street as you walked up to and past the > property. PAT] Unfortunately for me I've never heard a live electromechanical switch. It was a delight testing my recent acquisition, two WE 551C KSU's. Connecting the A to A1 leads gives a nice thunk of relays engaging and the light for the card illuminates. Now I just have to apply ring voltage and see if the interrupter still works. But I never got to hear things like Panel which existed in my city until I was 7 years old, but I was unaware of it. Did get to hear a call processing through a noisy #5 Xbar though when we moved into North Providence and ended up with a Pawtucket rate center number. Even that cut to a #5/2000 ESS just before I moved back to Providence. ------------------------------ From: Ed Clarke Subject: Re: Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas Date: 16 Mar 2006 23:27:25 GMT Organization: Ciliophora Associates, Inc. Reply-To: clarke@cilia.org On 2006-03-16, 3z3k3l wrote: > I use Fios and it is AWESOME! 15MB to the internet; you can't beat a > clean fiber connection to the internet. They recently announced you > will be able to get "cable" or basically 180 digital channels. > They are basically doing the monopoloy thing again, they are running > the fiber right to the house! We can get our phone, internet and now > 180 cable tv channels through them! > It beats cable hands down. Speeds are tremendous and no slow downs > during the week! I just installed FIOS in New York (Westchester county) a week or so ago. It works flawlessly, gives me phone service and internet service without requiring a copper connection from the outside. I also have a business service with Vonage that works perfectly through the FIOS connection. I will probably get the television service when it comes out in six months or so. ------------------------------ From: T Subject: Re: Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas Organization: The Ace Tomato and Cement Company Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 21:26:27 -0500 In article , rixride@hotmail.com says: > I use Fios and it is AWESOME! 15MB to the internet; you can't beat a > clean fiber connection to the internet. They recently announced you > will be able to get "cable" or basically 180 digital channels. Uh -- we've had 15MB connections to the net for the last year. And it isn't Verizon FIOS -- it's Cox over coaxial. > They are basically doing the monopoloy thing again, they are running > the fiber right to the house! We can get our phone, internet and now > 180 cable tv channels through them! > It beats cable hands down. Speeds are tremendous and no slow downs > during the week! Luckily Cox totally rebuilt most of Rhode Island some years ago. All the backbones are completely fiber. At my office we use both their fiber and coaxial products. ------------------------------ From: Koos van den Hout Subject: Re: Are Cellular Base Station Antennas Worth Anything? Date: 16 Mar 2006 20:57:39 GMT Organization: http://idefix.net/~koos/ John L wrote in : > So my question is, are the antennas worth anything? The Cingular > antennas are for the 800 MHz AMPS band, three whip antennas, basically > pointy metal sticks pointing straight up. The Sprint antennas are for > the PCS 1900 MHz band, curved panels. All have tails of coax that > they cut when they removed the transmitters. > Any advice? Sell them on ebay? Don't waste my time? My first thought was 'maybe the 800 MHz antennas are worth something at a ham swap meet, forget the 1900 MHz antennas'. But I looked on ebay. New 1900 MHz antennas are worth a lot. But you can't test them (unless you find a ham with the right equipment to somehow verify that the antenna is still in some sort of working shape). Koos van den Hout, PGP keyid DSS/1024 0xF0D7C263 via keyservers koos@kzdoos.xs4all.nl or RSA/1024 0xCA845CB5 -?) Fax +31-30-2817051 Camp Wireless, wireless Internet access /\\ http://idefix.net/~koos/ at campsites http://www.camp-wireless.org/ _\_V ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 19:55:15 -0500 From: William Warren Subject: Re: Are Cellular Base Station Antennas Worth Anything? John L wrote: > My village has an old water tower on which Cingular and Sprint erected > base station antennas. We built a new water tower, and they put new > antennas on it, abandoning the old ones. Sometime in the near future, > weather permitting, we're going to take down the old tower, and it > would probably be easy for me to buy the old antennas for their scrap > metal value. > So my question is, are the antennas worth anything? The Cingular > antennas are for the 800 MHz AMPS band, three whip antennas, basically > pointy metal sticks pointing straight up. The Sprint antennas are for > the PCS 1900 MHz band, curved panels. All have tails of coax that > they cut when they removed the transmitters. > Any advice? Sell them on ebay? Don't waste my time? > Regards, > John Levine johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" > Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://iecc.com/johnl, Mayor > "I dropped the toothpaste", said Tom, crestfallenly. If the COAX isn't too old, you or your town can use it for pretty much any RF application. The antennas are most likely useless unless you have a local ham radio operator who's willing to take them. BTW, I suggest you have the "old" tower structure surveyed as a "new" location for antennnas. Anything higher than a treetop is rentable these days, and a coat of paint might be all that's needed to get a new income stream. William Warren (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Is This Phone Monopoly Legal? Date: 16 Mar 2006 14:21:15 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Cyron wrote: >... The entire city (aside from those using wireless phone > service) are forced to use the services of the local telephone company. > In past years, local internet service providers have sprung up -- only > to be bought out by the local telephone company. I can't answer your question of whether this is allowable or not. However, in general terms, this is the free marketplace at work, and the goal of deregulation and divesture was a free marketplace. In some places a free market means vigorous competition. However, if there are not enough customers support a volume business, businesses will have no interest to serve that market and you have your situation. You also have the situation where one company buys up others which also is perfectly legal. In other words, if you're in the middle of Manhattan you'll find numerous choices of restaurants within a few square blocks of yourself. If you're in some town of 1,000 people, you'll find likely one restaurant, take it or leave it. You may have an anti-trust issue with your phone company buying up every potential competitor. But I don't know how anti trust law works these days or how it applies to this business. ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Rotary Service Primary in World? Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 17:38:41 -0500 On 16 Mar 2006 08:11:19 -0800, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > I get the impression that almost all countries use Touch Tone service > on their telephones. For places that never had much landline service > to begin with, people are heavy into cellular, which of course is > Touch Tone. (Apparently in an undeveloped place it's cheap to build a > new cellular network than landline since stringing wires > house-to-house and store-to-store are not required.) > Anyway, I was wondering if there were any places where legacy rotary > dial switchgear was still the primary method of handling calls. I > tend to doubt it since electronics are so much cheaper and easier to > maintain. Rotary equipment required skilled maintenance. We just had this same discussion on Monday and I wonder the same thing. SxS equipment is huge and bulky, and you can put 1000 lines in a box the size of a 4 cubic foot refrigerator, that will use less power and require no maintenance except to keep it environmentally warm/cool and dust free. Just where does all of that Step equipment go? Carl Navarro ------------------------------ From: techie@tantivy.tantivy.net (Bob Vaughan) Subject: Re: Music on Hold, Digital Player Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 00:10:59 UTC Organization: Tantivy Associates In article , Klay Anderson wrote: > In article , Mr4Sale > wrote: >> We've been using a CD/MP3 player, with a CDROM for our music on hold. >> Needless to say, after awhile running 7/24 for a couple of uses in an >> infinite loop it's starting to act up. I was thinking of moving to an >> MP3 player instead (no moving parts) this time. But we'd need one >> with an external power supply and one that could loop one track. > As the above is technically illegal, why not subscribe to and use XM Radio? Please explain why this would be illegal? The playing of music on hold is not illegal. The problem arises when the music being played is copyrighted, and the rights are owned by others, without the proper licensing. Licensed music is available for this purpose, and of course you would always record your own music, either an original composition, or a classical or traditional piece for which there is no copyright. This discussion has made no mention of the actual content, so we don't know what is being played, or what the potential copyright issues might be. -- Welcome My Son, Welcome To The Machine -- Bob Vaughan | techie @ tantivy.net | | P.O. Box 19792, Stanford, Ca 94309 | -- I am Me, I am only Me, And no one else is Me, What could be simpler? -- ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Buffalo NY 25 hz Power Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 02:13:31 GMT DLR wrote: > John Bachtel wrote: >> In 1957 and 1958, after graduating from Kenmore High School, near >> Buffalo, I was a turbine operator at Niagara Mohawk's Charles R. Huntley >> Steam station in Tonawanda, on the Niagara River. We were still >> operating units 25 hz 24, 25 and 26 and a reversable frequency changer. >> Total cap. was abt. 200 MW, alongside 1000 MW of 60 Hz power in the >> newer sections of the plant. Operation varied with the business >> climate, from full bore 24/7 to daily startup/ shutdown, occasionally >> with only one unit. Interesting work ... I got to do the throttle ups >> and enjoy the synchrozation process during startup. It could get >> dicey with our 30-50 year old equipment and synchroscope like a giant >> clock up on the wall. Equally exciting were sudden power dumps as >> happened during severe weather. Big building quake, followed by opening >> of steam safety valves atop the adjoining boiler house. > Who bought this 25Hz power? Probably transit systems. The New York City subways operated on DC, created from rectified AC in the 25-30 Hz range. Probably still do. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD (USA) (Replace "example.invalid" with "com" in my address.) ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John L) Subject: Re: What Phone Company has Clearest Audio? Date: 17 Mar 2006 03:42:58 GMT Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > alternative and looked at VONAGE. In VONAGE's features list, they > claimed they had "Higher quality calls than landline in many cases". Based on my experience with Vonage, those must be the cases where the landline is transmitted over twelve miles of barbed wire fence. > Is there a better service than VONAGE that carry clear long-distance > calls? These days, landline phone switches all turn your phone calls into bits, and it is my impression that most landline long distance companies just transmit the bits, so they'll all be the same. The difference is how much noise there is between your handset and the phone switch. If you want really clear audio and don't care about the price, get ISDN service so the phone itself does the digital conversion and the link from your house to the telco is all digital and noiseless. R's, John ------------------------------ 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 2006 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 V25 #107 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Mar 17 20:45:30 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 36A5115522; Fri, 17 Mar 2006 20:45:30 -0500 (EST) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #108 Message-Id: <20060318014530.36A5115522@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 20:45:30 -0500 (EST) 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=-3.7 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, NO_COST autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Fri, 17 Mar 2006 20:35:00 EST Volume 25 : Issue 108 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update #521, March 17, 2006 (Angus TeleManagement Group) EarthLink Invests $50M in Covad to Expand VoIP (USTelecom dailyLead) Unusual Phishing Attempt (Jim Haynes) Toll Free Area Restrictions (trknoc@gmail.com) MPAA CacheLogic Announcement (Jonathan Hirshon) Re: Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas (Mark Atwood) Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) (Carl Zwanzig) Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.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: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 11:00:11 -0800 Subject: Telecom Update #521, March 17, 2006 From: Angus TeleManagement Group Reply-To: Angus TeleManagement Group ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 521: March 17, 2006 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** AVAYA: www.avaya.ca/ ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca/ ** ERICSSON: www.ericsson.ca ** MICROSOFT CANADA: www.microsoft.com/canada/telecom/ ** 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: ** Telecom Policy Report Expected Next Week ** Telus Sees Increase in Long Distance Theft ** New Ontario Area Code to Arrive Just in Time ** Erosion of Home Phones Accelerates ** Microsoft Reports Big Jump in IP Voice/Video ** MTS Adds Blouin to Board, Nominates Two Directors ** Bell and Telus Challenge MTS Service ** Some Terms of Nortel Settlement Okayed ** CRTC Reaffirms Order on VoIP Message Relay ** St. John's Developer Offers Push Email Software ** Telus Adds Second-Layer Spam Filtering ** Charges Laid in 500 Payphone Robberies ** Rogers Boosts Download Speed ** SaskTel Adopts Converged Messaging Platform ============================================================ TELECOM POLICY REPORT EXPECTED NEXT WEEK: The three-person Telecom Policy Review panel, appointed last April, is expected to release its report in Ottawa next week. A report in the Globe & Mail says that the panel's recommendations will include more flexible regulation of the incumbent phone companies and incentives to extend broadband into unserved areas. TELUS SEES INCREASE IN LONG DISTANCE THEFT: Telus says that hacker gangs have recently increased efforts to steal overseas long distance from businesses by hijacking voice mail boxes. Telus's security group detected almost 200 incidents in 2005, stopping about $1.5 million in illegal calls. ** The telco is urging business customers to change all default passwords, eliminate unused mail boxes, and if possible to disable "through dialing" features that allow employees to call into their voice mail and then dial out of the system. NEW ONTARIO AREA CODE TO ARRIVE JUST IN TIME: Area Code 226 is scheduled to launch as an overlay in the current 519 area (southwestern Ontario) on October 21. This is just in time: the latest Number Resource Usage survey predicts that the last remaining prefixes in 519 will be in use by January 2007. ** Beginning in the week of June 17, callers in the 519 area who dial local calls using only seven digits will hear a recording advising them to dial 10 digits in future. Mandatory 10-digit local dialing will begin on October 14. ** 10-digit dialing will also be required for callers in four 705 exchanges -- Alliston, Barrie, Collingwood, and Cookstown -- when they place local calls to the 519 or 226 numbers. EROSION OF HOME PHONES ACCELERATES: Statistics Canada says that the number of traditional residential phone lines in Canada fell 3% in the 12 months preceding September 2005, the largest year-over-year drop since the numbers started falling in 2001. The number of business lines was virtually unchanged in the same period. ** The report currently sells for $23, but effective April 24 there will be no charge for Statistics Canada's electronic publications. http://www.statcan.ca/english/preview/56-002-XIE/P0030556-002-XIE.pdf MICROSOFT REPORTS BIG JUMP IN IP VOICE/VIDEO: Microsoft says it has recently seen a sharp jump in customer use of its voice and video services. January's record volumes included 800 million minutes of voice conversation on MSN Messenger, 1.1 billion minutes of video conversation, and 7 billion minutes of stand-alone webcam use. Twenty million users on average use Microsoft's voice-conversation services monthly. ** The company plans to introduce new IP communications tools this year, including enabling users to set up PC-to-PC or PC-to-Phone voice or video calls by clicking on a contact's name in an email. MTS ADDS BLOUIN TO BOARD, NOMINATES TWO DIRECTORS: Manitoba Telecom Services has appointed its CEO, Pierre Blouin, to its Board of Directors. The telco will propose that James MacDonald, Chairman of Enterprise Capital Management, and Kishore Kapoor, formerly of the wealth management firm Loring Ward, be elected to the Board at the May 2 Annual General Meeting. ** In 2004, Enterprise, a hedge fund, spearheaded efforts to convert MTS into an income trust. BELL AND TELUS CHALLENGE MTS SERVICE: Bell and Telus have separately complained to the CRTC that MTS Allstream, which signed a national contract with Public Works and Government Services Canada in February, does not have tariff approval for services to be provided under the contract in its incumbent territory, Manitoba. ** Bell and Telus competed unsuccessfully for the same contract; they both obtained advance tariff approval from the CRTC for their bids. They want the Commission to prohibit MTS from providing the services until it has an approved tariff. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2006/8622/b2_200602369.htm http://www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2006/8622/t66_200602640.htm SOME TERMS OF NORTEL SETTLEMENT OKAYED: Nortel says it has reached agreement on some issues related to the previously announced US$2.5 billion settlement of a class action lawsuit. (See Telecom Update #516) The company's insurers have agreed to add $228.5 million toward the settlement, and Nortel will codify current governance practices, including the annual election by its directors of a non-executive chair. Settlement discussions continue. CRTC REAFFIRMS ORDER ON VoIP MESSAGE RELAY: CRTC Decision 2006-12 reiterates the Commission's direction that all VoIP providers must provide access to Message Relay Service, which assists hearing-impaired customers. ** The CISC Network Working Group reported to the CRTC in December that there are no technical obstacles preventing VoIP providers from offering MRS. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2006/dt2006-12.htm ST. JOHN'S DEVELOPER OFFERS PUSH EMAIL SOFTWARE: Newfoundland-based Consilient Technologies has introduced Consilient Push software, which enables carriers to push email to a wide range of wireless devices. Consilient says its service can be offered cost effectively for only $5 a month. (See Telecom Update #354) TELUS ADDS SECOND-LAYER SPAM FILTERING: Telus is now using software from Borderware Technologies to provide an additional, initial layer of filtering to screen out the most obvious spam emails. Telus says that the volume of emails on its network has increased five-fold in three years, and 80% of emails today are spam or viruses. CHARGES LAID IN 500 PAYPHONE ROBBERIES: Two Toronto men have been charged with breaking into 518 payphones, collecting $21,500 and destroying $128,500 worth of payphone equipment. ROGERS BOOSTS DOWNLOAD SPEED: Rogers Cable is increasing the rated speed of its basic high-speed Internet service to 5 Mbps from 3 Mbps. The cableco says the transition will be complete in a few weeks. SASKTEL ADOPTS CONVERGED MESSAGING PLATFORM: SaskTel has deployed software from uReach Technologies that provides a single framework for wireline, wireless, and VoIP voice messaging services. ============================================================ 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, 17 Mar 2006 13:08:47 EST From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: EarthLink Invests $50M in Covad to Expand VoIP USTelecom dailyLead March 17, 2006 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/diBkfDtutcaqoZyzlU TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * EarthLink invests $50M in Covad to expand VoIP BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Vodafone sells Japan unit to Softbank * Global Crossing sees uptick in dark fiber sales * Qwest's shares rise on acquisition speculation USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * New KPMG addresses business challenges in the digital age * TelecomNEXT kicks off Sunday: Register today and save TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * March Madness breaks online streaming records * NBC films webisodes of "The Office" VOIP DOWNLOAD * NetZero adds VoIP to HiSpeed 3G package * Father of free e-mail encryption launches service for VoIP * Level 3 eyes bigger slice of VoIP pie REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Verizon executive: Net neutrality rules unnecessary Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/diBkfDtutcaqoZyzlU ------------------------------ Subject: Unusual Phishing Attempt Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 19:00:55 GMT What's unusual about this one is that they want you to phone a number to give away your personal data rather than sending it to a phony web page. Wonder who is on the other end of that phone number. Dear Brian, [which is not my name] Your recent order has been cancelled due to the billing information not verifying with your issuing bank. Please call our Payment Processing Department at 1-800-991-6828 with the correct information and we will be happy to assist you. Please disregard this message if we have spoken to you regarding this order. jhhaynes at earthlink dot net [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you received that letter in actual email I suggest they were possibly trying to avoid a scam. I called the number and tried to bluff them out; the woman who answered asked for my name and zip code (I gave bogus info) and she said she was unable to find an order 'from that zip code and name' for their various clients including 'Foot Locker' and a couple of other companies. I get the impression it is a legitimate payment processor. PAT] ------------------------------ From: trknoc@gmail.com Subject: Toll Free Area Restrictions Date: 17 Mar 2006 13:22:07 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com We're having an interesting problem. User calling from a VOIP phone in Ohio with an Ohio ANI to a Toll Free number that's allowed in Ohio, but not in CA. Customer's interconnect point to the PSTN is in Southern CA. Call is sent to a Southern CA tandem for SMS dip, and the call fails because the CIC isn't open in CA. Has anyone else run into this problem? Are there any solutions currently offered to address this problem? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 12:12:39 Subject: MPAA CacheLogic Announcement From: Jonathan Hirshon Reply-To: jh@horizonpr.com Greetings -- I believe you will find the following press release from the MPAA to be very intriguing indeed. Just to clarify, I am not representing the MPAA, but am distributing this w ith their approval to the media and analyst friends of CacheLogic. If you wish to contact the MPAA and/or CacheLogic for their perspective on this an nouncement, please do contact me directly and I'll be happy to facilitate t his for you cheers, JH FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 17, 2006 MPAA HOSTS TECHNOLOGY BOOTH AT TelecomNEXT Six Tech Companies to Demonstrate Content Distribution and Filtering Techn ology Los Angeles -- Beginning on Tuesday, March 21 in Las Vegas, the Motion Pic ture Association of America, Inc (MPAA) will host a technology booth at Te lecomNEXT, featuring several companies who will display some of the latest online distribution platforms and filtering tools which could assist the te lecommunications industry and play an important role in the emerging legitimate digital content distribution markets. This is the first time that the MPAA has had a presence at this event which is important in bringing busine ss and technology of communications and entertainment together. Representatives from Audible Magic, BitTorrent Inc, CacheLogic, Peer Impact, Red Swoosh and Thomson Content Security will be on hand to demonstrate methods their companies have developed to facilitate legal online movie distribution and to protect copyrights in a digital environment. "TelecomNEXT is a significant event for companies who want to see some of the latest in business and technology of communications and entertainment," said MPAA Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman. "We are excited about being included in TelecomNEXT and feel honored to host these fine companies who are representative of all those working on more ways to legally bring our movies to consumers and developing innovative solutions for protecting copyrights. By giving these innovators an opportunity to demonstrate their advances, we hope to encourage them and others to continue their important work." As part of the MPAA=92s core mission, it seeks to provide leadership for it s companies in the digital media transition. MPAA has been working on iden tifying tools that can facilitate the legal online distribution of digital content. MPAA does not endorse any particular technologies but is proud to spotlight the following six companies that will be present at the MPAA boo th as examples of these types of tools. Those companies have provided the following descriptions of their services: * Audible Magic provides content management and anti-piracy services to the media and entertainment industries, as well as governmental and educational institutions. The company's offerings utilize patented digital fingerprinting technologies and an extensive reference database of copyrighted content. Its digital technology is designed to monitor, track, manage, and in some cases filter copyrighted multimedia content in all of its forms, including radio and TV analog broadcasts, Internet and satellite streams, physical media files, as well as P2P and private network file transfers. Audible Magic has agreements with UMG (Universal Music Group), Sony Music, and is negotiating with many of the studios. * BitTorrent Inc is the developer of the world's leading open-source f ile-sharing protocol by the same name, specifically created to overcome the obstacles of transferring large files over the Internet=2E BitTorrent Inc has completed a deal to filter illegal MPAA content out of its website and is negotiating content distribution deals with the studios=2E BitTorrent Inc recently announced a deal with the UK=92s largest cable company to launch a technical trial to evaluate ultra high-speed, legal video downloads in t he UK=2E The trial download service will feature a large variety of licensed video content including popular movies, music videos and television programs. * CacheLogic provides a suite of complementary products that deliver tr affic management and network intelligence solutions to the Internet Service Provider (ISP) and telecommunications sectors. CacheLogic's core products provide carrier-grade solutions that enable ISPs to achieve considerable co st savings through the intelligent management of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) traffic across their networks=2E CacheLogic's technology can be configured to acce lerate the delivery of legitimate P2P content and dramatically reduce downl oad times, which enables ISPs to make an important contribution to the valu e chain of this revolutionary delivery mechanism. * Peer Impact is a new online digital content distribution network that provides legal peer-to-peer file sharing services for its members. Its technology offers a secure online space to purchase and share movies, music an d video games while ensuring content owners and propriety rights holders al ike are paid appropriately Peer Impact has a deal with NBC Universal and is in discussions with other studios. * Red Swoosh, Inc=2E offers P2P content delivery services for high-perfor mance, low-cost distribution of media over the Internet=2E By securely and sa fely utilizing private P2P Grids, Red Swoosh customers are able to achieve unlimited video delivery at a fixed cost while significantly increasing the performance of their streaming media and downloads=2E With the deployment o f Red Swoosh=92s innovative services, content providers have saved millions of dollars in infrastructure costs while vastly improving the economic via bility of their online initiatives=2E Red Swoosh distributes content for man y of the world's largest media companies and hundreds of smaller content owners on the Net. * Thomson Content Security provides solutions to the media and entertai nment industries, comprehensively addressing the need to mitigate the risk of illegal content redistribution=2E Thomson offers advanced solutions to pro tect digital rights, build secure content delivery networks and fight again st content piracy. The Group makes its security technologies available via a combination of off-the-shelf products for the movie, broadcast and teleco m industries, and OEM licensing. About TelecomNEXT TelecomNEXT is the only place where the business and technology of communic ations and entertainment meet. Recognizing the dramatic changes in today's integrated communications market, the TelecomNEXT exhibit floor and co nference program fully reflect the industry's continuing evolution and will bring together the most dynamic, talented and innovative players of the digital age. About the MPAA The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries from its offices in Los Angeles and Washington, Its members include: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; Universal City Studios, LLP; and Warner Bros Entertainment Inc. ### For more information, contact: MPAA Los Angeles Kori Bernards (818) 995-6600 MPAA Washington, D=2EC=2E John Feehery or Gayle Osterberg (202) 293-1966 Jonathan Hirshon - Principal, Horizon Communications Vox - 408-969-4888 US Mobile - 408-393-4900 Euro Mobile (only when traveling) - (+44)(0)7791 156425 GnuPG Fingerprint - 6E0A C579 5AE7 B006 DEE3 B658 F63F 74C3 7393 B433 Automatically add my vCard into Outlook (etc) at www.Ehorizonpr.com/vcard.html See the current JH Music Library at http://www.horizonpr.com/ituneslist/ ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas From: Mark Atwood Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 20:19:12 GMT T writes: > In article , rixride@hotmail.com > says: >> I use Fios and it is AWESOME! 15MB to the internet; you can't beat a >> clean fiber connection to the internet. They recently announced you >> will be able to get "cable" or basically 180 digital channels. > Uh -- we've had 15MB connections to the net for the last year. And it > isn't Verizon FIOS -- it's Cox over coaxial. Downstream. DOCSIS is must slower and less efficient in the upstream direction. Mark Atwood When you do things right, people won't be sure me@mark.atwood.name you've done anything at all. http://mark.atwood.name/ http://fallenpegasus.livejournal.com/ ------------------------------ From: zbang@radix.net (Carl Zwanzig) Subject: Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 18:06:36 -0000 Organization: RadixNet Internet Services Following up on my own post: Carl Zwanzig wrote: > Just to muddy the waters a bit -- in some cities, San Francisco for > instance, some apartment blocks had ammonia-cycle cold boxes in each > apartment. These were supplied by an ammonia compressor in the > basement. ISTR that maybe once a year, the SF fire department finds a > leak. Even though the system might have been turned off years ago, > there's stll gas in the pipes. A friend lived in one of these place > for a while. In an email, someone asks basically "What were they thinking? Earthquakes? Dangerous?" This fits right in there with gas lamps. OTOH, central cooling systems didn't have an installed base in 1906, so when the city was rebuilding it wasn't a concern. I'd say the same went for multi-story masonry buildings. Before then, there weren't that many taller buildings and the main material was wood. They did find out that wood burns. If my copious spare time, I may hit some of the books and look for more info. (I have at least one devoted to ammonia refrigeration systems.) z! ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) Date: 17 Mar 2006 11:01:57 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com T wrote: > Unfortunately for me I've never heard a live electromechanical > switch. Telephone switches have a distinctive sound. The clicks and clacks are very sharp and distinctive. While an ESS switch is silent (except for the noisy blowers), there may be some nearby support racks that do contain relays, and those relays will make the sharp clack sounds. As to the sound of emergency generators, they are noisy. I was passing a nursing home when they were testing their generator and it was loud! Places with critical functions likes hospitals and nursing homes have backup power generators. They are tested every so often. Sometimes power failures result from failure of the switchgear to transition from one source to another. One of my employer's location had a backup source and they did a test; they were out of commission the whole day due to failures of the control circuitry. Electric power control circuitry is pretty amazing to me. It must handle -- live -- tremendous amounts of current. The power system today is pretty fancy and duplicated which means power failures are quiten uncommon even when one piece gets hit by lightning. Unfortunately, it is so interconnected that a bad failure will ripple and make a big mess. It happened in 1965 causing the big NE blackout and again not too long ago causing another NE blackout. Unfortunately, once large segments go out, it takes a while to bring them all back online; they can't flip a switch and do a whole city at once. Also, once a power plant itself goes off line, it takes a while to build back up. I wish there was some cost-efficient practical manner of "buffering" large amounts of power for brief moments to avoid huge surges that cause everything to shut down. If the safety breakers are too sensitive there will be too many false trips causing unnecessary problems. If the breakers aren't sensitive enough surges will ripple through. The 1965 NE power failure has been documented as to causes and solutions (which presumably have been implemented). But I don't know if they ever published the analysis of the more recent NE power failure. I believe it was caused by surges in an Ohio system that rippled to other systems. I don't know if there is a protection against such "rippling". That's why I wish there were some kind of "buffers". ------------------------------ 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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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2006 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 V25 #108 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Mar 18 16:04:52 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id BB9AC1506E; Sat, 18 Mar 2006 16:04:50 -0500 (EST) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #109 Message-Id: <20060318210450.BB9AC1506E@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 16:04:50 -0500 (EST) 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=-3.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sat, 18 Mar 2006 16:07:00 EST Volume 25 : Issue 109 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Google Wins Partial Victory Over USA Subpoena! (Eric Auchard & Adam Tanner) Antigua Blasts USA 'Bullies' Over Gambling Laws (Reuters News Wire) Madness: Net Hit With Record Traffic Flow (Paul Gough) Various Power Issues, was: Gas Refrigerator (25 Hz Power) (Danny Burstein) In NY, ILEC Wireline Rates May Go Up Due to Competition! (John Stahl) Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) (T) Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) (DLR) Re: Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas (T) Re: Unusual Phishing Attempt (DLR) Re: MPAA CacheLogic Announcement (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: Eric Auchard & Adam Tanner Subject: Google Wins Partial Victory Over USA Subpoena! Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 13:31:09 -0600 Google wins partial keywords victory By Eric Auchard and Adam Tanner A federal judge denied a U.S. government request that Google Inc. be ordered to hand over a sample of keywords customers use to search the Internet, but required on Friday that the company produce some Web addresses indexed in its system. In a 21-page ruling, Judge James Ware of the U.S. District for the Northern District of California said the privacy considerations of Google users led him to deny part of the Justice Department's request. "To the extent the motion seeks an order compelling Google to disclose search queries of its users the government's motion is denied," Ware wrote. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had subpoenaed Google to turn over data the government wanted from the company as part of the Bush Administration's attempt to defend a federal law on child pornography on the Internet. "You have to disclose what your robots find, but you don't have to disclose what people search for," Andy Serwin, a privacy law expert, said of the automated software tools Google uses to catalog the Web. "The order does get the government what it probably needed, not what it wanted," said Serwin, a partner with Foley & Lardner and author of the "Internet Marketing Law Handbook." During a court hearing on Tuesday when the government saw it was likely to lose entirely on its subpoena, it chose instead to offer a compromise to Google, which the company accepted. It reduced the number of Google searches it wanted data on to just 50,000 Web addresses and roughly 5,000 search terms from the millions or potentially billions of addresses it had initially sought. "The court grants the government's motion to compel only as to the sample of 50,000 URLs (Uniform Resource Locators), from Google's search index," the judge ruled, referring to the searchable catalog of documents that form the core of Google's Web search service, the most widely used in the world. "What his ruling means is that neither the government nor anyone else has carte blanche when demanding data from Internet companies," Nicole Wong, Google's associate general counsel, said in a statement on the company's Web site. The full comment is at http://googleblog.blogspot.com/. "The government will not be permitted to just run amok, fishing and gathering up whatever it wants. It is unforunate other services did not hold the line and work with us on this, instead of just giving in to government demands as they did." STAND ON PRIVACY Ware ruled that the 50,000 Web addresses, or URLs, were a relevant request by the government, which wants the data for a statistical study it is doing to show the effectiveness of filtering software at issue in a separate case -- ACLU v. Gonzales -- that concerns a federal law on online child pornography. "The expectation of privacy by some Google users may not be reasonable, but may nonetheless have an appreciable impact on the way in which Google is perceived, and consequently the frequency with which users use Google," Ware wrote. "This concern, combined with the prevalence of Internet searches for sexually explicit material ... gives this court pause as to whether the search queries themselves may constitute potentially sensitive information," he said. In his decision, Judge Ware wrote of the "three vital interests" that needed to be weighed in the case: national interest, proprietary business information and privacy concerns. "This Court is particularly concerned any time enforcement of a subpoena imposes an economic burden on a non-party," he wrote in a filing made at the close of business of Friday. Professor T. Barton Carter, a professor of communication at Boston University's College of Communication, said that beyond privacy issues there remain further concerns. "It is still a little disturbing that essentially the government can compel information from a party that is not involved in a lawsuit," he said. "Given their initial request, obviously it is a victory for privacy to the extent that no information entered from the users is being offered," Carter said. (Additional reporting by Adam Tanner, Duncan Martell and Jim Christie in San Francisco.) Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more headline news from Reuters, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Antigua Blasts USA 'Bullies' Over New Internet Gambling Laws Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 13:36:08 -0600 Antigua on Friday blasted the United States over what the tiny Caribbean island state said were moves to ensure it could not build up its fragile economy through revenues from Internet gambling services. Criticising proposed U.S. laws to outlaw the $12 billion online gambling industry, Antiguan ambassador to the World Trade Organization John Ashe suggested Washington felt it could act with impunity because his country did not have the economic weight to retaliate. "We believe the time has come for the United States to demonstrate ... whether the WTO agreements are to work for us all equally, or whether the WTO is indeed a 'one-way street' for the large economies to further enrich themselves at the expense of lesser ones," Ashe told diplomats at a session of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). "The United States basically says it will do as it pleases; that the rest of the world cannot stop it and that it will ruin any of us who try to get fair deals." Antigua, which has a population of 67,000 with few natural resources and a declining tourist industry, has since the late 1990s sought to build up an Internet gambling industry to provide work for its young people. The DSB was discussing developments in the squabble, first brought to the WTO by Antigua in 2003. A WTO panel and later appeals judges handed down rulings in 2004 and 2005 which both sides have claimed as vindicating their case. The United States, which before Ashe spoke told the DSB it was still in consultation with Congress on the way ahead, bars the placing of bets across state lines by electronic means, arguing that the ban is legal under WTO rules. U.S. officials say they are working to make clear that domestic gambling operations in the country are subject to exactly the same rules as foreign ones, and that there is no discrimination against Antigua. In their ruling last year, judges on the WTO's Appellate Body said that there did appear to be U.S. discrimination between foreign and local operators in betting on horse racing. The new legislative proposals were intended to clear that up, according to U.S. officials. But Ashe argued on Friday that they were both "as directly contrary to the DSB recommendations and rulings as could possibly be imagined." He said they would entrench a situation where, in violation of WTO agreements, Antigua was barred from providing services to U.S. consum- ers that could be offered by domestic operators. Diplomats said that the case was likely to be returned to the original panel next month when the time period runs out for the United States to come into line with the original rulings. The panel will have to decide if it has in fact done so. Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html ------------------------------ From: Paul J. Gough Subject: Madness: Net Hit With Record Traffic Flow Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 13:40:38 -0600 By Paul J. Gough March Madness gripped the Internet on Thursday, with more than 1 million video streams carried in the first day of CBS' free on-demand out-of-market games. There were occassional slow downs in internet movement from the 'traffic jams'. Thursday kicked off the NCAA men's basketball tournament, one of CBS' highest-profile sports packages and one that takes over much of the network for three weeks through early April. But the online portion was expected to gain lots of attention this year as well with the offering of out-of-market games via CBS SportsLine. Businesses, which often complain about the lost productivity because of the fine art of bracketology, had even more to be worried about this year with the free streaming via the Internet. Those fears seem to have come true with what CBS said was a record-breaking day for a sports event streamed live on the Internet. CBS served more than 268,000 simultaneous streams of first-round games Thursday, pushing its first-day total to more than 1.2 million by 6 p.m. EST. "The numbers and positive feedback we have seen from our users today are extremely encouraging," CBS Digital Media president Larry Kramer said. Meanwhile, the TV coverage was affected by a bomb scare at Cox Arena in San Diego, where several of the games are being held. The Marquette-Alabama game was delayed more than an hour, with the other games delayed as well. In other March Madness news, Time Warner Cable announced a deal with CBS and its subsidiary CSTV to offer condensed games on-demand during the tournament. The package includes 63 condensed games, at the price of 99 cents. It follows a similar deal with Apple iTunes for condensed games that was announced Thursday. Reuters/Hollywood Reporter Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html Other news headlines available at: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Various Power Issues, was: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 02:00:51 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes: [ misc snips ] > T wrote: >> Unfortunately for me I've never heard a live electromechanical >> switch. > Telephone switches have a distinctive sound. The clicks and clacks are > very sharp and distinctive. The closest you'll find to this nowadays is in older elevators. Prior to 1980 or so the controllers on automatic (as opposed to manned) elevators used bunches of Big and Loud relays. Next time you get into one, especially in older buildings, listen for the clicekty-click-CLANG-clap-click-SNAP as they determine the fate of that little box you're riding. (These are, of course, getting phased out by electronic controls, but since they last just about forever and it's still quite expensive to replace them, many of the older ones are still around). > Places with critical functions likes hospitals and nursing homes have > backup power generators. They are tested every so often. Sometimes > power failures result from failure of the switchgear to transition > from one source to another. One of my employer's location had a > backup source and they did a test; they were out of commission the > whole day due to failures of the control circuitry. A hospital complex with which I'm acquainted in NYC had an executive director who took emergency planning seriously. ( details slightly changed both due to memory fade and to protect the inocent...) Early one afternoon, when they were throwing a "nurses and EMS and local police/fire thank you" day, this director walked into the basement and bumped into a Big Red Switch, knocking out all the primary power. And then watched what happened. ( She chose this day deliberately since there would be plenty of extra personnel [most of whom would still be sober this early] around just in case emergency power didn't kick in the way it was supposed to...) Most stuff did ok, but lots and lots of issues showed up. > failure. I believe it was caused by surges in an Ohio system that > rippled to other systems. I don't know if there is a protection > against such "rippling". That's why I wish there were some kind of > "buffers". There's a simple (well, not quite so simple ...) way of significantly reducing the risks of the specific problems related to the recent blackout. It's called using High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission lines instead of the legacy AC ones. A hefty percentage of new circuits are, in fact, using direct current, and older ones are often switched over when they're upgraded/replaced. (No doubt we'll find other failure modes ...) _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 22:15:55 -0500 From: John Stahl Subject: In NY, ILEC Wireline Rates May Go Up Due to Competition! (Compiled from various sources) The current flap here in New York State as reported by the news media with regards to Verizon and ILEC wireline phone rates is that they have petitioned the PSC to eliminate the lowest cost service which gives per call charge for outgoing calls and unlimited incoming calls plus access to 911. According to the 3/16/06 article in the Binghamton Press, authored by Michael Gromley of the Associated Press: "... The proposal would simply give the companies the option to increase their base fee, in increments of $5 per year. The basic service now costs $8.61 and provides access to incoming calls, 911 dispatchers and long-distance carriers. The proposal would raise that to $24.95, but would include unlimited local calls. Customers with the current basic service are charged added fees for local calls ..." With all of the "fees" and taxes, the current "lifeline" service ($8.61 base) cost is almost $20./month. Allowing the rates to go up (the article reasons that "... The state commission that regulates traditional telephone companies said the companies are being squeezed by the rise in Internet services such as Vonage and cable telephone services. Internet and cable phone services are regulated federally and aren't required by the state to provide a basic, low-cost service ...") would make the minimum wireline phone service cost about $45./month with these same "fees" plus taxes added on. It seems ironic that the NY regulatory group welcomed the Telecom Act of 1994 which initially opened up the incumbent services to competition. Now that the cable and other telecom service suppliers are getting into the VoIP services, the regulators are now actually letting the incumbents eliminate the basic services so they can "compete(?)(!) Speaking of VoIP competitors, I ran across (in March 2006 issue of VON Magazine -- page 17) a "new" entrant into the market with an even lower price for unlimited outgoing local and long distance calling plus unlimited incoming calls (includes E911, too) for a very low price of $19.99 USD/month for US and Canada. Check out YAK World City VoIP at http://www.yak.com (click on the YAK Unlimited link.) I'm one of those "modern" people with a ever present cell phone (my wife has one, too) but have maintained a land-line presence mostly for the need to send/receive a occasional FAX. So I had the cheapest service (as described above) but if the PSC gives in and grants the change, then I probably will give up the land-line. Wonder if I can connect my FAX "machine" to my cell? John Stahl Aljon Enterprises Telecom and Data Consultant [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think you can connect your fax machine to the cell phone. I know that with Cingular Wireless, to name just the example I am familiar with, for around $50.00 per month you can get some sort of PC card for your computer (which would be for fax as well) allowing you to use cellular for modems. I guess the speed is not all that great, however. PAT] ------------------------------ From: T Subject: Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) Organization: The Ace Tomato and Cement Company Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 21:24:47 -0500 In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com says: > T wrote: >> Unfortunately for me I've never heard a live electromechanical >> switch. > Telephone switches have a distinctive sound. The clicks and clacks are > very sharp and distinctive. > While an ESS switch is silent (except for the noisy blowers), there > may be some nearby support racks that do contain relays, and those > relays will make the sharp clack sounds. Actually the #1ESS wasn't completely electronic per se -- it used reed relays to complete the calls. But our Prologix does still make some clicking noises, but nowhere near the decibel level of an old SxS I bet. > As to the sound of emergency generators, they are noisy. I was > passing a nursing home when they were testing their generator and it > was loud! > Places with critical functions likes hospitals and nursing homes have > backup power generators. They are tested every so often. Sometimes > power failures result from failure of the switchgear to transition > from one source to another. One of my employer's location had a > backup source and they did a test; they were out of commission the > whole day due to failures of the control circuitry. Yep. Our 125kW natural gas generator makes plenty of noise. And it works flawlessly too. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 06:49:47 -0500 From: DLR Subject: Re: Gas Refrigerator (was 25 Hz Power) > The 1965 NE power failure has been documented as to causes and > solutions (which presumably have been implemented). But I don't know > if they ever published the analysis of the more recent NE power > failure. I believe it was caused by surges in an Ohio system that > rippled to other systems. I don't know if there is a protection > against such "rippling". That's why I wish there were some kind of > "buffers". In general yes they do know what happened. But these systems are now more like the Internet than a generator powering a city. And while there is some (very limited) buffering that can be done, it's a cost and amazingly, each company tries to put the costs on the other guys and the income on themselves. Without an almost national power company I doubt the buffer will be there unless everyone is mandated to have it. And I'd rather see the current situation, warts and all, continue before I'd want a single national power company. If you mean "store" power for a rainy day, that's very very hard. About the only way it's done now is to do things like use nuclear power to pump water up hill during off peak times so it can be used for hydro generation when needed. AC Power is mostly a game of use it or loose it. Now back in the early 70s my father's plant spent tens of millions of dollars to change their continuous process such they could drop their power load by large megawatts in a few hours instead of the days it took (well to do it nicely) before. This was so they could give up their power for $$$ if requested by the power companies so they could ship it to NE when needed during peak summer loads. They came out way ahead on the deal after a few years. I don't know the exact figures but in 1968 his plant was using the same amount of power as the City of Detroit's power system. Will there be large scale blackouts in the future? Yes. We just don't have the knowledge to design fool proof large scale very complex systems. And not mater how many laws Congress writes, they can't legislate results. :) ------------------------------ From: T Subject: Re: Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas Organization: The Ace Tomato and Cement Company Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 21:27:38 -0500 In article , me@mark.atwood.name says: > T writes: >> In article , rixride@hotmail.com >> says: >>> I use Fios and it is AWESOME! 15MB to the internet; you can't beat a >>> clean fiber connection to the internet. They recently announced you >>> will be able to get "cable" or basically 180 digital channels. >> Uh -- we've had 15MB connections to the net for the last year. And it >> isn't Verizon FIOS -- it's Cox over coaxial. > Downstream. > DOCSIS is must slower and less efficient in the upstream direction. Funny thing is, I get 5MB up. As I'm not running any actual servers out to the public that's more than enough. 90K of that is VoIP traffic -- the rest is smtp, nntp, 5190, etc. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 06:36:10 -0500 From: DLR Subject: Re: Unusual Phishing Attempt Jim Haynes wrote: > What's unusual about this one is that they want you to phone a number > to give away your personal data rather than sending it to a phony web > page. Wonder who is on the other end of that phone number. > Dear Brian, [which is not my name] > Your recent order has been cancelled due to the billing information > not verifying with your issuing bank. Please call our Payment > Processing Department at 1-800-991-6828 with the correct > information and we will be happy to assist you. Please disregard > this message if we have spoken to you regarding this order. > jhhaynes at earthlink dot net > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you received that letter in actual > email I suggest they were possibly trying to avoid a scam. I called > the number and tried to bluff them out; the woman who answered asked > for my name and zip code (I gave bogus info) and she said she was > unable to find an order 'from that zip code and name' for their > various clients including 'Foot Locker' and a couple of other companies. > I get the impression it is a legitimate payment processor. PAT] And that would fit with the vast number of Debit/Visa cards canceled recently. We've had 2 "auto-canceled" in the last week. I bet there is a non-trivial number of on line orders that got initial approval and then couldn't get the final charge approved at various places as the cards were canceled. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: MPAA CacheLogic Announcement Date: 17 Mar 2006 20:00:37 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com On the rec.arts.tv newsgroup there is an ongoing spirited debate about the rights of copyright holders vs. those who feel they have a "right" to download copyrighted works for free from the Internet. I do believe the property rights granted by a copyright--which is explicitly provided for in the US Constitution--are very important. I do not think it is right for people to download such works for free. That is stealing. I am no fan of "greedy corporations", but they do have very legitimate ownership rights. On the other hand, the US Constitution provides that copyrights are to last only a "limited" time. Recent changes in the law have extended this limit. (I don't know exactly the terms). In one sense, I can understand this because of the enormous cost and risk to create modern motion pictures. However, I am concerned about industry controls as mentioned above because they may intefere with my legal rights as a consumer. I have a DVD/VCR machine, but it won't let me make a VHS copy from a DVD. The law says I can make a backup copy yet I am denied the means to do so. Considering I take CDs in my car, there's a chance they'll get damaged or lost and I should be able to protect myself with a copy. I don't want future electronic equipment to be so "tight" that it adversely impacts my freedom to use it as I please. I also am a big believer in "fair use" and am afraid the industry may tighten up on that. [public replies, please] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I strongly believe in acknowledging the copyright holders and their work. I also strongly believe in making liberal 'fair use' of material as I wish. But I am also old enough to remember -- and unwilling to forget, as Hollywood and the music industry wishes I would do -- when the _intent_ of the internet was a 'share and share alike medium'. People developed whatever, their art, their writing, their thoughts, and put them on the net for anyone who could benefit from what they had done. It _still_ is that way over much or most of the net. Click on a link, or go FTP to some site, see what you need and take it. I've a quarter century of files on line here for people to use; just help yourself, and I will do the same with yours. But I do not forget where yours came from, and I hope you do not forget where mine came from. But then, in the middle 1990's, along come the latest interlopers into our village, the music and video producers. _They_ seem to feel the rules should be different for them. _They_ feel we all have to play by their rules. We were here a long time prior, and had our own informal rules to play by; _they_ say forget all those rules, our rules will now apply. And _they_ have the money and the mouthpieces (who by and large gobble up all the money) to get their way. _They_ love the idea of scattering their stuff all over the sidewalk and public way, to make it easy for the users they favor to get the stuff they want; but the rest of us had better not get into their stuff without their permission. Our stuff is all out there also, to make it easy for other users to find what they need, but that's not what the movie and music people have in mind. We were here long before them; _they_ should play by our rules or find somewhere else to play. But like bullies everywhere, they do not intend to be moved. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V25 #109 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Mar 18 21:07:13 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id E53FC15538; Sat, 18 Mar 2006 21:07:12 -0500 (EST) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #110 Message-Id: <20060319020712.E53FC15538@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 21:07:12 -0500 (EST) 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=-0.7 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, BIZ_TLD,ONLINE_PHARMACY,SEE_FOR_YOURSELF,WORK_AT_HOME autolearn=no version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sat, 18 Mar 2006 21:08:00 EST Volume 25 : Issue 110 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson SEC Shuts Down A Scammer (Spam Daily News) Woman Arrested in Porn Spam (Spam Daily News) Tamiflu Spams on the Rise (Spam Daily News) SDSU Hacker Arrested, Given Three Years Federal Probation (Spam Daily News) Norton Update is Flaky (Spam Daily News) Illinois Town May Outlaw Distracted Driving (ABC News Wire) Re: MPAA CacheLogic Announcement (Steven Lichter) Re: Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas (Bob Goudreau) T-Mobile Offers Seamless Broadband Connection With Nortel (technologypost) 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: Spam Daily News Subject: SEC Shuts Down a Scammer Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 15:17:53 -0600 From Spam Daily News SEC shuts down 12dailypro.com; Federal court appoints receiver to take control of assets The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Charis F. Johnson of Charlotte, North Carolina, 33, raised more than $50 million from more than 340,000 investors worldwide by convincing visitors to the Web site that they could earn a 44% return on their investments in 12 days by looking at Internet advertisements. Auto-surf sites are a form of online advertising that generate revenue by automatically rotating advertised Web sites in a viewer's browser. Advertisers pay the host Web sites, which in turn pay their members to view the rotated Web sites. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Charis (pronounced Sha-reese) Johnson and her Web site, 12dailypro.com, moved beyond that business model to sell upgraded site memberships offering $6 "units" with a maximum investment of 1,000 units. Johnson promised to pay each upgraded member 12% of his or her membership fee per day for 12 days. According to the scheme, at the end of 12 days the member would earn 144% of the membership fee, 44% of which would be profit. To qualify for the payment, members would have to view at least 12 Web pages a day during the 12 day period. However, the amount paid out to investors was related only to the amount of each member's total investment, not to the number of Web pages they viewed or other services they performed. The premise behind autosurfing is that companies that advertise on the Internet are willing to pay to increase traffic to their Web sites. The more sites the individual visits, the more money he or she stands to earn. Autosurf services offer advertising packages for as low as $.05, so that's the cost to the advertiser, somewhere between $.05 and $1 per thousand (CPM). These services pay a fixed $.01 to $.10 per THOUSAND impressions to its autosurfing members. That's the market value for the autosurfer's work of viewing ad impressions. The SEC claims that Johnson's sale of membership units constituted a fraudulent and unregistered sale of securities. In addition, while investors were led to believe that their returns would be generated by advertising revenue, payments were made almost entirely from cash generated by other unit buyers in a classic Ponzi scheme, the SEC alleged. Johnson and her companies, 12daily Pro (12dp) and LifeClicks LLC, agreed to settle the charges without admitting or denying guilt. As part of the settlement, Johnson and her companies agreed to stop seeking further investors, to freeze assets and to accept a court appointed receiver over corporate assets. Federal District Court Judge Nora Manella assigned Thomas F. Lennon as receiver over 12 Daily Pro. Lennon, who's business is based in Southern California, is already in Charlotte, North Carolina. With the judges order now in hand, he can take control of all aspects of the Internet venture and start tracking down the money. At this point, the largest chunk of investors money appears to be held by Storm Pay. Storm Pay is the Internet payment processor that froze the 12 Daily Pro account a month ago. Storm Pay has been vilified by many 12 Daily Pro faithful for stopping what they say had been a company that always paid its members on time. Ironically, it now appears the money Storm Pay froze estimated now at just under 50-million dollars -- may represent the best hope for those who have lost money. Randall R. Lee, Regional Director for the Securities and Exchange Commission in Los Angeles is just grateful that there is any money. "The sad truth is, in most cases by the time we shut it down, most of the money if not all of the money is already gone," said Lee. Lee also thinks quick action in this case has led to a good result. "It was almost a pure Ponzi," says Lee, who oversees the investigators who filed the original complaint with Judge Manella and negotiated the stipulated order that led to the appointment of a receiver. Lee said, "The only real source of income was from new investors. Our investigation found that 95% of the funds were simply moved from one investor to another." The SEC is also seeking the repayment of ill-gotten gains and further fines. The complaint alleged that Johnson transferred about $1.9 million to her own accounts. The FBI said Tuesday it continues to investigate the company. Johnson told the FBI last month that 12dailypro.com's 300,000 members have been paid more than $300 million over since May, according to a transcript of her statement to authorities. She told the Charlotte Observer she's earned between $150,000 and $200,000. Charis Johnson said she never intended to run an illegal business -- just one that helped people make some money from the Internet. Ponzi Scheme: Named after Charles Ponzi, who ran such a scheme in 1919-1920, a Ponzi scheme is an investment scheme in which returns are paid to earlier investors, entirely out of money paid into the scheme by newer investors. Ponzi schemes are similar to pyramid schemes, but differ in that Ponzi schemes are operated by a central company or person, who may or may not be making other false claims about how the money is being invested, and where the returns are coming from. Ponzi schemes don't necessarily involve a hierarchal structure, as in a pyramid scheme; there is merely one person or company that is collecting money from new participants and using this money to pay off promised returns to earlier participants. "I'm working with the government to fix this," Johnson told the Observer. "I think it's important for people to understand there was no ill intent. We were the moral compass in the industry. We were running our business legally as far as I knew." Johnson, a one-time television producer and filmmaker, said she found auto-surf programs while looking for a way to earn money after moving to Charlotte from the Triad in 2004 with her husband and young daughter. She said many programs ended quickly or treated members poorly. "I wanted to create something more mainstream," she said. "I wanted to build a community." She said she used marketing and Web design skills she taught herself to build 12dailypro, named after daily percentage paid to members and her desire to help people become professional Web entrepreneurs. Johnson told the FBI that 95% of 12dailypro's money came from new members, according to documents. Members were told this on the company Web site, but 12dailypro also cited other revenue, including advertising and non-site investments. 12DailyPro.com is one of the busiest websites on the planet. Part of the traffic is gathered via a huge number of affiliated sites and third-party domains -- such as 12dailypro.co.uk, 12dailypro.us, 12dailyproworks.com, etc -- which mirror or link to 12dailypro.com aiming to earn a 12% referral commission. Online since April 18, 2005, 12dailypro.com is ranked as a Top 500 Website (currently #346) in the world. According to Alexa, the Top 500 Websites account for 45% of the total Internet Web traffic. "Paid autosurf programs have become an enormous industry on the Internet," Lee said in a statement. "When these schemes depend on attracting new members in order to pay returns to current members, they are destined to collapse. We urge the public ... to exercise extreme caution before investing in any get rich quick scheme." Lee says investors have to take some measure of responsibility for where they put their money, and he says a 12% daily return as promised by 12 Daily Pro is unreasonable. Still, Lee is reluctant to place blame for any Ponzi scheme's collapse on investors, adding, "Nobody deserves to be cheated. Nobody deserves to be lied to. Everybody is entitled to the protection of federal securities laws. And so we are here to protect investors even if they make decisions that they might later regret." Ben Luke, a 60-year-old from Charlotte, said he spent $24,000 in fees since July for him and his daughter, using money from a home-equity loan and his retirement fund. "I was letting it ride," said Luke, who's gone back to substitute teaching. "I'm mad at myself. I'm mad at (Johnson). There was not enough warning about this business." Johnson said the site 12dailypro.com was not intended for people to bankroll a lot of money and she never said returns were guaranteed. In fact, the still alive mirror/affiliated site 12dailypro.co.za home page reads: The risks Just like any other type of contribution, participating in autosurf programs has its own risk. The autosurf industry today is full of scams. Many individuals have taken autosurfing as an opportunity to create modern pyramid schemes. They design their sites to look like professional autosurf companies, offer high interest rates (in return for high contributions), and run away with the members' money when the programs start to collapse. 12DailyPro has never missed a payment to anyone! Additionally every single member has been paid on time. See for yourself here. You can make up to $220 profit a day without ever having to recruit anyone, advertise, or sell anything. This paid Auto-Surf program is the real deal, and you will soon see this for yourself once you join. If you think 44% every 12 days is worth the risk you should try it out. We have and are continuing to contribute. However, keep in mind that there are several other ways to make money online besides 12DailyPro. Just after the "advice" follows an anonymous "testimonial" which resembles a Scam 101 text: Our experience: We joined 12DailyPro on 12/3/05 with just $84. We have added to this since then. From this small base we have managed to grow our contributions. We are currently awaiting payment on $7,876. Initially we were very skeptical as to how this program would work, as most people would be. A great deal of research was on done. Many sites such as this one, explained the process, and offered proof of the legitimacy of the program. Through the forums information was gained and even proof. Initial skepticism has been replaced ... we are overjoyed to have found this opportunity. Long may it continue!! ABC4.COM Investigative reporter has been unable to locate Charis Johnson. At the location she was having her members send her funds for her legal expenses was actually at an UPS Store Mailbox. At her address on file with the State when she registered her LLC, she was also not found. Instead they found someone else living there. They stated that Charis moved in January. Of all the emails and phone calls received by ABC4 News from angry 12 Daily Pro members, no one has come close to an explanation of how the program can provide a 44% return on membership investment. What may be more disturbing is the fact that some 12 Daily Pro members have actually told ABC4 News they "don't care" where the money comes from. SEC director Lee says there isn't much that investors can do but wait. "The receiver will be taking overlooking at the full scope of the operations including anybody that lost money in this scheme. The receiver at the same time will be making an effort to reach out and contact all investors. There is nothing immediate that anyone can do. It will take some time. We are firmly committed to the protection of investors." Lee advises investors to watch for updates on the http://www.sec.gov Web site. He also says the receiver will probably eventually start posting updates on the 12 Daily Pro Web site -- which is now under his control as well. Johnson said after the investigation ends that she wants find other ways to help people build their Web businesses. The FBI is encouraging persons involved with 12daily Pro who suspect being a victim to file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center at http://www.ic3.gov SOURCE: Charlotte Observer; U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; ABC News; eWEEK; InternetNews; Alexa [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Is it just me, or is 99 percent of the internet just spams and scams these days? If I have seen that Johnson lady's scam for her Ponzi scheme once on television, I have seen it a hundred times ... All I can say is this Charis Johnson lady is a fraud, a total fake, and I hope when they catch up with her -- if they do -- they totally fry her. Not only her, but all the people who make those outlandish claims about money they make on the internet. Just this afternoon, there was a commercial for a couple other web sites where, it is alleged, you can make a 'minimum of five thousand dollars per month'. One man on those commercials this afternoon claimed 'he likes working at home so much, he decided to built a new house to live in with his profits from running a web site. Then he tells us 'he has not decided yet how much money he wants to earn next month; probably at least ten thousand.' I see all those television commercials and have to wonder if the person(s) who wrote the commercials were seeking an audience of mentally handicapped kindergartners. Is it just me? Are there actually people out there making money like that on the web? I will admit that since my brain aneurysm I have felt pretty rotten most of the time, and not very enthusiastic about the net. But some days I work my tail off online and do not _come anywhere close_ to making the type of money Charis Johnson and those other jokers and liars talk about. Do you know anyone who does? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Spam Daily News Subject: Woman Arrested, Faces 15 Years in Prison Over Porn Spam Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 15:26:45 -0600 From Spam Daily News Jennifer R. Clason, 33, of Raymond, N.H., pleaded guilty to two spamming counts under the CAN-SPAM Act and one count of criminal conspiracy. She agreed to forfeit money obtained in the commission of these crimes and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each of the spamming and criminal conspiracy offenses. Sentencing is scheduled for June 5, 2006 before U.S. District Court Judge Roger G. Strand. According to the plea agreement, Clason conspired with two individuals in the transmission of numerous spam e-mails containing graphic pornographic images: Jeffrey A. Kilbride, 39, of Venice, California, and James R. Schaffer, 39, of Paradise Valley, Ariz. The plea agreement states that Clason created and transmitted the spam e-mails on behalf of Kilbride and Schaffer, at the direction of Schaffer. On Aug. 25, 2005, a nine-count indictment was returned against Kilbride, Schaffer, and Clason by a federal grand jury in Phoenix, charging all three defendants with two counts of fraud and related activity in connection with electronic mail under the CAN-SPAM Act and one count of criminal conspiracy. The indictment also charged Kilbride and Schaffer with two counts of interstate transportation of obscene material using an interactive computer service, two counts of interstate transportation of obscene material for the purpose of sale or distribution, and one count of money laundering. Schaffer was also charged with one count of operating three pornographic Internet websites without including required statements describing the location of identification and other records for the performers portrayed in the Web sites, as is required by federal law. The trial of Kilbride and Schaffer is scheduled for June 6, 2006. According to the indictment, Clason, Kilbride, and Schaffer conspired to engage in the business of sending spam e-mails for their own personal gain, benefit, profit and advantage. America Online, Inc. received more than 600,000 complaints between Jan. 30, 2004 and June 9, 2004 from its users regarding spam e-mails that had allegedly been sent by the defendants' spamming operation. The indictment further alleged that the spam e-mails sent by the defendants advertised pornographic Internet Web sites in order to earn commissions for directing Internet traffic to these Web sites. It is alleged that graphic pornographic images were embedded in each of the defendants' e-mails. Four counts of the indictment charged felony obscenity offenses for such transmission of hard-core pornographic images of adults engaged in explicit sexual conduct, which meet the Supreme Court's test for adult obscenity. According to the indictment, the spam e-mails were sent in a manner that would impair the ability of recipients, Internet service providers processing the e-mails on behalf of recipients, and law enforcement agencies to identify, locate or respond to the senders. The indictment further alleged that Kilbride and Schaffer also created and utilized overseas companies named The Compliance Company and Ganymede Marketing to conceal and disguise their activities. According to the indictment, Kilbride and Schaffer also utilized overseas bank accounts in Mauritius and the Isle of Man (a British Crown dependency) for the purpose of laundering and distributing the proceeds of the spamming operation. Two other individuals, Andrew D. Ellifson, 31, of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Kirk F. Rogers, 43, of Manhattan Beach, Calif., have already pleaded guilty to charges under the CAN-SPAM Act related to this spamming operation. Ellifson and Rogers are scheduled to be sentenced on June 5, 2006 in Phoenix. This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney William A. Hall, Jr., of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) of Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., and Assistant U.S. Attorneys John J. Tuchi and John R. Lopez, IV, of the District of Arizona. It was investigated by the Phoenix Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and CEOS's High Tech Investigative Unit. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I guess I was wrong; you _can_ make thousands of dollars per month working at home on your computer; all you need to do is run a Ponzi Scheme in connection with pornographic spam. Obviously I am in the wrong line of work here, obviously the Internet can be used for good financial gain. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Spam Daily News Subject: Tamiflu Spams Spread Online Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 15:24:00 -0600 From Spam Daily News Spammers are exploiting and capitalizing on fears brought on by the possibility of an avian flu pandemic. The emails try and direct you to online pharmacy sites selling Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate), the antiviral prescription drug that is most effective at protecting people against the H5N1 strain of bird flu, but many of these are purely scams to try and get credit card details and other personal information. As public interest and media coverage of bird flu increases, so does consumer demand for Tamiflu. Across the country, people appear to be building home stockpiles of the prescription antiviral medicine, according to reports by drugstores, pharmaceutical benefit managers and physicians. Tamiflu is not a cure for the flu, but it can lessen symptoms if taken shortly after they first appear. A five-day course of two pills a day costs $80 to $90. Tamiflu, taken as one capsule (75mg) daily for 6-8 weeks, may be 80-90 percent effective in preventing avian influenza, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The run on Tamiflu was apparently spurred by government warnings, here and abroad, that chances for a worldwide flu epidemic are rising, and by news that Southeast Asia's H5N1 bird flu -- the leading candidate for a pandemic -- is moving westward. For more than a year, demand for the drug, known generically as oseltamivir, has been rising as more than 40 countries began to lay in millions of doses for national stockpiles. Reports have suggested Tamiflu is already in short supply and spammers are taking advantage of this by mass mailing the product. Spam urging recipients to protect themselves from bird flu by purchasing Tamiflu online has skyrocketed. Spammers are registering hundreds of new Web domain names for the purpose of sending bird flu related spam. "Spammers play on the irrational fears of readers. The feeling that buying something will protect you from death often takes precedence over a healthy level of scepticism that should be induced by the fact that it's spam," says Spamhaus, a leader in anti-spam work. Roche, the Swiss pharmaceutical company that produces Tamiflu, is aware of the Tamiflu spam campaigns, and is warning consumers not to "panic-buy" their products. The company has warned consumers against purchasing Tamiflu online, saying that it has evidence some of the medication sold on the Internet is fake. Roche is the only maker of Tamiflu, which takes more than six months to synthesize in a complicated and dangerous manufacturing process. Last December, federal customs agents have seized more than four dozen shipments of counterfeit Tamiflu pills at a U.S. post office in South San Francisco. "The packages were in containers that stated they were generic Tamiflu, but there is no generic Tamiflu, so that's a pretty big tip off," said Roxanne Hercules, spokeswoman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, explaining that the local seizures were the first in the nation of a counterfeit form of the drug. "It's all economics," said Hercules. "People are going to try to make money off whatever they can. We try to anticipate what could be coming down the road." The counterfeit pills found at the post office in South San Francisco were shipped from China and had been bought over the Internet. "The product had none of the active ingredients of Tamiflu," Dave Elder, director of the FDA's Office of Enforcement told the Associated Press. "People are jeopardizing their health and possibly even their life by purchasing prescription drugs such as Tamiflu through websites that advertise using spam," said Ted Green, CEO of Greenview Data. "The risk of receiving counterfeit, spoiled, or even toxic medication is extremely high. Tamiflu, along with all other prescription drugs, should only be prescribed by licensed physicians and purchased from trusted and reputable sources." A number of countries have reported cases of avian influenza, commonly referred to as "bird flu" in their domestic and wild bird populations. The H5N1 strain of influenza causes severe disease in domesticated fowl. Human infections with the H5N1 strains are extremely rare -- but frequently fatal. Since late 2003, 118 people have contracted the disease and 61 have died. Most of these cases have occurred from direct or close contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces; however, a few rare cases of human-to-human spread of H5N1 virus have occurred, though transmission has not continued beyond one person. Nonetheless, because all influenza viruses have the ability to change, scientists are concerned that H5N1 virus one day could be able to infect humans and spread easily from one person to another. Because these viruses do not commonly infect humans, there is little or no immune protection against them in the human population and an influenza pandemic (worldwide outbreak of disease) could begin. Experts from around the world are watching the H5N1 situation in Asia and Europe very closely and are preparing for the possibility that the virus may begin to spread more easily from person to person. A specific vaccine for humans that is effective in preventing avian influenza is not yet readily available. Mathematical models published by two research teams concluded that spread of a contagious new strain of influenza virus could be slowed or even stopped by widespread use of Tamiflu at the outbreak site. Other experts, however, think that even with unlimited quantities of the drug, this is unrealistic. ------------------------------ From: Spam Daily News Subject: SDSU Hacker Sentenced to Three Year's Federal Probation Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 15:22:27 -0600 From Spam Daily News A young man who was 17 when he hacked into the computer network at San Diego State University and compromised operations pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges and was immediately sentenced by U.S. District Judge Napoleon Jones Jr. to three years federal probation and ordered to pay $20,735 in restitution. "This young man has now learned the hard way that the Internet does not give anyone immunity from criminal prosecution and conviction," said U.S. Attorney Carol Lam. The defendant, who was not identified because he was a juvenile at the time of the offense, admitted knowingly and intentionally accessing various legally protected computers in the SDSU network and recklessly causing damage to those computers. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitch Dembin said the defendant admitted that on Dec. 24, 2003, he scanned the University network looking for vulnerable computers and happened upon one in the Drama Department. He uploaded a variety of software tools and utilities to that computer for use in ferreting out other vulnerable computers within the SDSU network, cracking passwords and obtaining administrative privileges, Dembin said. Over the next several hours, the defendant located and compromised at least seven additional computers, including the Financial Services and Housing Department systems, according to Dembin. In mid-January 2004, the defendant uploaded a program to the Financial Services and Housing Department computers that would allow him to store, share and distribute music and software, including pirated video games, Dembin said. He said the computer breach was discovered on Feb. 24, 2004, when complaints were received from individuals who were getting unsolicited electronic mail originating from the Financial Services computer. That led to a full investigation by SDSU that revealed the larger scope of the hacker's work, according to Dembin. The hacker circumvented University computer security to access a server in the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships. The compromised server contained names and Social Security numbers, but the intruder did not has access to aid application or award data. The server contained information on current, former and prospective students who sent in aid applications or related material, as well as many current and former employees. The vast majority of individuals being notified are ones that provided this information since fall 1998. SDSU notified more than 178,000 individuals to be on alert, stated a March 16 press release from SDSU Marketing and Communications. Dembin said SDSU spent more than $20,000 investigating the extent of the compromise and repairing and restoring the damaged computers. The prosecutor said there is no evidence, however, that any data stored on the Financial Services computer was downloaded or used for identity theft. San Diego State University is the oldest and largest institution of higher education in the San Diego region. Founded in 1897, SDSU offers bachelor's degrees in 79 areas, master's degrees in 67 and doctorates in 14. SDSU's nearly 34,000 students participate in academic curricula distinguished by direct contact with faculty and an increasing international emphasis. SOURCE: Fox News; San Diego State University ------------------------------ From: Spam Daily News Subject: Norton Update is Flaky Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 15:20:39 -0600 From Spam Daily News As a result of an incorrect update, thousands of AOL dial-up customers lost their connection and were then unable to reconnect, and AOL broadband users were unable to access AOL servers several days ago. The issue affected AOL customers using recent editions of Norton AntiVirus, Norton Personal Firewall and Norton Internet Security. "This update incorrectly detected traffic patterns used as part of the AOL connection as a potential risk," Symantec said. The erroneous update was removed from Symantec's servers about seven hours after it was released. A spokesman for Symantec said a "Symantec intrusion detection signature" in its March 15 LiveUpdate had caused the problem. He said the spread of the problem had been stopped and a remedy was available through updates. Symantec advises users who are unable to go online because of the issue to disable their Norton software, connect to the Internet and immediately download updated definition files. This ought to be pretty interesting. They're booted offline, so they can't get a LiveUpdate to fix the issue. Customers would have to disable their security software in order to get the update; the question is, how many of them will realize the real reason for the problem in order to do that? To fix the problem follow the steps for the product that you use. Norton Internet Security or Norton Personal Firewall Click Start > All Programs > Norton Internet Security > Norton Internet Security. In the right pane, click Security. Click Turn Off. Click OK. Start the AOL program and sign on. After you connect to AOL, click LiveUpdate > Next. Download all available updates. Restart the computer. Norton AntiVirus installed by itself or as part of Norton SystemWorks (not as part of Norton Internet Security) Click Start > All Programs > Norton AntiVirus or Norton SystemWorks > Norton AntiVirus. Click Options. If you see a menu, click Norton AntiVirus. In the left pane, click Internet Worm Protection. In the right pane, depending on your program version, uncheck Enable Internet Worm Protection or Turn Internet Worm Protection on. Click OK. Click LiveUpdate > Next. Download all available updates. Restart the computer. Click Start > Programs > Norton AntiVirus or Norton SystemWorks > Norton AntiVirus. Click Options. If you see a menu, click Norton AntiVirus. In the left pane, click Internet Worm Protection. In the right pane, depending on your program version, check Enable Internet Worm Protection or Turn Internet Worm Protection on. Click OK. SOURCE: Symantec ------------------------------ From: ABC News Wire Subject: Illinois Town May Outlaw Distracted Driving Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 16:53:14 -0600 Putting On Makeup and Talking on the Phone Would Be Illegal March 18, 2006 -- Drinking a latte, talking on the phone or even turning around to discipline the kids while driving could soon be a crime in Winnetka, Ill. Violators would pay up to $750 in fines. $750 for "coffee and looking back at your children?" said Alberto Paracchini, a Winnetka resident. "That sounds a bit extreme to me." Jenny Cleary, a mother of three, including 2-year-old twins, said avoiding distraction with a car full of kids seems impossible. "I'm drinking a cup of coffee, yelling to sit down get in your car seat, stop fighting . all those different things at one time," she said. "But I don't really think it distracts from my driving." The police chief who drew up the proposal would argue otherwise. "What I'm advocating," Police Chief Joseph De Lopez said, "is making the public more aware of their responsibility to be attentive drivers -- to minimize the danger they pose to themselves and others when they're driving." Distracted drivers cause an estimated 1.2 million accidents a year. In fact, 46 percent of drivers surveyed by the American Automobile Association admitted to putting on make up, shaving or doing some sort of personal grooming behind the wheel. Seventy-one percent said they eat or drink and 92 percent said they fiddle with the radio. Yet the cell phone is the main culprit. Laws Across the Country At least 17 states have laws that restrict the use of handheld cell phones behind the wheel, but studies show that has done little to reduce the accidents. "We try to advocate that motorists use common sense," said Kris Lathan of AAA. "Necessarily having two hands on the wheel doesn't matter if your mind's not on the road." That is why Connecticut, the District of Columbia and New Hampshire fine drivers for other distractions that lead to a crash. Town leaders in Winnetka are still talking about whether they could enforce such a law. If nothing else, this proposal gives drivers cause to think about what they're not thinking about when they're on the road. Copyright 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news headlines of interest from Associated Press please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP/html ------------------------------ From: Steven Lichter Reply-To: Die@spammers.com Organization: I Kill Spammers, Inc. (c) 2006 A Rot in Hell Co. Subject: Re: MPAA CacheLogic Announcement Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 21:18:51 GMT hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > On the rec.arts.tv newsgroup there is an ongoing spirited debate about > the rights of copyright holders vs. those who feel they have a "right" > to download copyrighted works for free from the Internet. > I do believe the property rights granted by a copyright--which is > explicitly provided for in the US Constitution--are very important. I > do not think it is right for people to download such works for free. > That is stealing. I am no fan of "greedy corporations", but they do > have very legitimate ownership rights. > On the other hand, the US Constitution provides that copyrights are to > last only a "limited" time. Recent changes in the law have extended > this limit. (I don't know exactly the terms). In one sense, I can > understand this because of the enormous cost and risk to create modern > motion pictures. > However, I am concerned about industry controls as mentioned above > because they may intefere with my legal rights as a consumer. I have > a DVD/VCR machine, but it won't let me make a VHS copy from a DVD. > The law says I can make a backup copy yet I am denied the means to do > so. Considering I take CDs in my car, there's a chance they'll get > damaged or lost and I should be able to protect myself with a copy. > I don't want future electronic equipment to be so "tight" that it > adversely impacts my freedom to use it as I please. > I also am a big believer in "fair use" and am afraid the industry may > tighten up on that. > [public replies, please] > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I strongly believe in acknowledging the > copyright holders and their work. I also strongly believe in making > liberal 'fair use' of material as I wish. But I am also old enough to > remember -- and unwilling to forget, as Hollywood and the music > industry wishes I would do -- when the _intent_ of the internet was a > 'share and share alike medium'. People developed whatever, their art, > their writing, their thoughts, and put them on the net for anyone who > could benefit from what they had done. It _still_ is that way over > much or most of the net. Click on a link, or go FTP to some site, see > what you need and take it. I've a quarter century of files on line > here for people to use; just help yourself, and I will do the same > with yours. But I do not forget where yours came from, and I hope > you do not forget where mine came from. > But then, in the middle 1990's, along come the latest interlopers into > our village, the music and video producers. _They_ seem to feel the > rules should be different for them. _They_ feel we all have to play by > their rules. We were here a long time prior, and had our own informal > rules to play by; _they_ say forget all those rules, our rules will > now apply. And _they_ have the money and the mouthpieces (who by and > large gobble up all the money) to get their way. _They_ love the idea > of scattering their stuff all over the sidewalk and public way, to > make it easy for the users they favor to get the stuff they want; but > the rest of us had better not get into their stuff without their > permission. Our stuff is all out there also, to make it easy for other > users to find what they need, but that's not what the movie and music > people have in mind. We were here long before them; _they_ should play > by our rules or find somewhere else to play. But like bullies > everywhere, they do not intend to be moved. PAT] My Sony DVD/VHS records both ways from one or the other just fine, not that I have a real interest in do that. The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2006 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co. ------------------------------ From: Bob Goudreau >>> I use Fios and it is AWESOME! 15MB to the internet; ... >>> Uh -- we've had 15MB connections to the net for the last year. And it >>> isn't Verizon FIOS -- it's Cox over coaxial. >> Downstream. >> DOCSIS is must slower and less efficient in the upstream direction. > Funny thing is, I get 5MB up. Point of clarification. Are you folks really getting 15 megaBYTES (or 5 megabytes) per second upstream? I suspect you might really mean 15 Mb (megaBITS) or 5 Mb per second. I'm not trying to nitpick; the difference between that capital B (= byte) and lower-case b (= bit) is an entire order of magnitude. When you're comparing speeds like that, sloppy misuse of units will leave your audience misinformed. Bob Goudreau Cary, NC ------------------------------ From: technology_post@yahoo.com Subject: T-Mobile Offers Seamless Mobile Broadband Connections With Nortel Date: 18 Mar 2006 17:44:45 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com T-Mobile Germany Offers Seamless Mobile Broadband Connections with Nortel Wireless First European Wireless Service Provider to Offer Seamless Communications Across HSDPA/3G, GPRS and Wi-Fi Networks Read Full article at http://technology-post.com/tech/?p=233 ------------------------------ 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 2006 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 V25 #110 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Mar 20 00:05:36 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 81B0F158AF; Mon, 20 Mar 2006 00:05:36 -0500 (EST) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #111 Message-Id: <20060320050536.81B0F158AF@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 00:05:36 -0500 (EST) 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=-2.6 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, BIZ_TLD autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 20 Mar 2006 00:08:00 EST Volume 25 : Issue 111 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Glide Online Service Has Good Potential, But Rough Edges (Monty Solomon) Mini Is Solid Addition To Home Media Center Despite Caveats (Monty Solomon) A New Way to Avoid the Video Store (Monty Solomon) Opening the Door on the Credit Report; Throwing Away Lock (Monty Solomon) Help - Reverse Directory 888 Number? (jtaylor) Re: MPAA CacheLogic Announcement (John McHarry) Re: Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas (Michael Quinn) Re: 208/240V, was: 25Hz Power (Paul Coxwell) Re: Unusual Phishing Attempt (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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 10:08:53 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Glide Online Service Has Good Potential, But Rough Edges By WALTER S. MOSSBERG The high-tech hype machine is in full throttle right now, pushing the idea that one day soon people will store all their files online, and that sophisticated new "Web applications," running on remote computers, will be used to manage and view all those files. But as with most hype, the actual evidence has been scarce. Now, a small company in New York City, far from the Silicon Valley publicity industry, is quietly delivering on that vision. The company, TransMedia Corp., has launched a rich, slick consumer Web service that can store, display, and share photos, music, videos, Web links, blogs and other documents. It's called Glide Effortless, available at www.glidedigital.com. Glide Effortless, which runs equally well on Windows and Macintosh computers, is the most interesting online service I've seen in quite a while. It's a large, integrated environment that has its own graphical user interface and often responds as quickly and smoothly as a desktop software program, even though it runs on remote servers. Glide has elements of photo-sharing sites, social networking sites and Web publishing services, but is different from any other site or service I've seen. It requires a broadband Internet connection, and works inside the latest versions of the most popular browsers: Internet Explorer for Windows; Safari for the Mac; and Firefox for either Windows or Mac. In my tests, I found that Glide has some rough edges. Not everything works as it should all the time, and there are some annoying aspects. It needs some work. But overall, I was impressed with the design, the care for detail and the ambition of the service. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20060316.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 10:10:27 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Mini Is Solid Addition To Home Media Center Despite Some Caveats By WALTER S. MOSSBERG This is a review of an interesting new entertainment-center component that happens to also be a personal computer -- a computer fully capable of, say, creating a spreadsheet, but one you might never use that way. This new product also happens to be a new Macintosh model from Apple Computer, but, in its entertainment-system role, it works perfectly with Windows computers. The new gadget is the latest version of Apple's tiny Mac Mini desktop computer -- a petite silver and white box that's just 6.5 inches square and stands just two inches tall, small enough to tuck away on a shelf near a TV. This Mini costs $599 and doesn't include a monitor, keyboard or mouse. The most important thing about the new Mac Mini is that it comes with Front Row, Apple's handsome software for controlling a computer from across a room, and with the tiny, simple remote control Apple designed to work with Front Row. You can just plug it into your TV and home audio system, fire up Front Row, and watch any videos stored on its hard disk, listen to any songs it holds, or view any photos it contains. It also plays DVDs. Even better, this new Mini can automatically find -- and stream to your home entertainment system -- all music and videos stored on any other computer on your home network, whether Windows or Mac. All that's required is that the other computers be running Apple's free iTunes software. The Mini can't stream photos from a Windows PC, but it can do so from another Mac. In my tests, all of this worked fine, and I can recommend the new Mini with Front Row for anyone who wants to play back, on a home entertainment system, media stored on a computer or multiple computers. But there are a few caveats. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20060309.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 10:18:11 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A New Way to Avoid the Video Store By WALTER S. MOSSBERG and KATHERINE BOEHRET After a long day at work, there's something calming about filling a bowl with popcorn and watching a movie at home. But the experience can be diminished if you have to drive to the video store to rent a DVD. And it's worse if you get there only to find that the film you want is out of stock. Even if you subscribe to a DVD-by-mail service, like Netflix, you may have to wait for the most popular films, and the movies you have on hand at any one time might not fit your mood. Plus, you have to pay a monthly fee. Now, a new company called MovieBeam is aiming to ease those DVD issues. It is selling a $200 digital gadget prestocked with 100 movies -- some in high definition -- that you can rent at the click of a remote-control button for as little as $1.99. There's no drive to the video store, no chance of a movie being out of stock, no monthly fee, no waiting for the mail. The MovieBeam service doesn't require a computer or Internet connection, and it operates independently of your cable or satellite provider. The MovieBeam box, which looks like a slim DVD player without a slot for DVDs, is basically a smart hard disk drive that connects to your TV and receives new films every week via a small, inconspicuous indoor antenna. MovieBeam's service isn't available everywhere, but is up and running in 29 metropolitan areas that cover a fair sprawl of the country, including Boston, Orlando, Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago and Philadelphia. We've been testing MovieBeam, and we generally like it. But it has some drawbacks -- most notably its limited selection, which is nowhere near as large as a video store or Netflix, and omits many movies that are newly available on DVD. http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20060308.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 01:40:01 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Opening the Door on the Credit Report and Throwing Away the Lock By DAMON DARLIN The New York Times In a dozen states, legislatures have set up procedures for residents afraid of identity theft to lock and unlock their credit reports. But credit-reporting agencies are pushing Congress to override the state laws, which could make it harder for Americans to keep their credit information under wraps. Lobbyists for the big agencies -- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, owned by the Marmon Group -- are seeking to add an amendment to the Financial Data Protection Act, a bill being rewritten by the House of Representatives. (A similar bill, S1408, is working its way through the Senate.) While the wording has not been set for the bill, also known as HR3997, lobbyists for the credit agencies are pushing for a law that limits the ability to lock credit reports to victims of identity theft. Moreover, the reports could be unlocked with five days' advance notice. Once a report is locked, an agency cannot release any of its details. Consumer groups are upset that a federal law might supersede what has been done at the state level. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/18/business/yourmoney/18money.html?ex=1300338000&en=679b5dd491c851cd&ei=5090 ------------------------------ From: jtaylor Subject: Help - Reverse Directory 888 Number? Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 19:08:35 -0400 Organization: MCI Canada News Reader Service Trying this on a few reverse directories on the web gets no result: 888-333-4103 Ideally I'd like to know not only who called, but also the local number it connects to, but anything would help ... ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: MPAA CacheLogic Announcement Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 23:27:31 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 20:00:37 -0800, hancock4 wrote: > I do believe the property rights granted by a copyright--which is > explicitly provided for in the US Constitution--are very important. I > do not think it is right for people to download such works for free. > That is stealing. I am no fan of "greedy corporations", but they do > have very legitimate ownership rights. > On the other hand, the US Constitution provides that copyrights are to > last only a "limited" time. Recent changes in the law have extended > this limit. (I don't know exactly the terms). In one sense, I can > understand this because of the enormous cost and risk to create modern > motion pictures. I don't think copyright was intended as property as such, but since it can be bought and sold, it might as well be. What galls me is that when the terms of copyrights were extended, they made that apply to unexpired rights granted for shorter terms. That is simply stealing from the public domain. The costs and risks to create such material were already assumed under the original terms, and most of the expected or hoped for rewards reaped. I don't find the "ownership rights" to such material legitimate at all. I think the current term for copyright is something like the life of the author plus 70 years, or 95 years for corporate works. Nobody determines whether to invest money or effort on expected returns that far out. This is closer to a perpetuity than a limited time. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 06:02:59 -0500 From: Michael Quinn May I ask how does the FIOS TV service in Texas compare in coat and quality to the Dish Network or equivalent? Here in northern Virginia, we have FIOS local telephone (not VOIP, though that may be available, and I'm thinking about it to save $$$) and internet service, and I'm happy with it, at $30 per month (for the internet, plus $30 plus a shitload of taxes and "fees" for unlimited legacy local telephone)) for the first year, and a $50 rebate which I just received. No problems to date in the 3 months since installation, and that includes weathering two snowstorms and one brief power failure. So far Verizon hasn't offered TV yet, but I would consider switching if it was competitive. We pay about $50 or $60 per month for Dish Network, which is the basic+whatever-makes-the-rest-of-family-happy package. Regards, Mike Springfield VA > From: Bob Goudreau Subject: Re: Verizon's FiOS TV Service Takes Off in Texas=20 > Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 19:00:24 -0500 [Please spam-proof my email address as usual...] > >>> I use Fios and it is AWESOME! 15MB to the internet; ... ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 08:41:47 PST From: Paul Coxwell Subject: Re: 208/240V, was: 25Hz power > Thank you for the great write-up. My father was a power EE, and I had > worked some as an electrician, so I have picked up some of this info > over the years. I especially remember my father describing the > high-leg delta connection when I was a kid, but I never ran into one > in practice. I understand from my Stateside friends who work in commercial settings that the high-leg delta catches some people out quite often. They've reported more than one or two odd cases in which someone has added a circuit breaker to that B-phase for a regular 120V branch circuit, not realizing that they're actually getting 208V. >> On the primary side of these transformers, everything here is >> connected between phases. In fact NONE of our HV lines have a neutral >> run with them, so three-phase primaries are always delta-connected, >> and the primary on a single-phase transformer is connected across two >> phases of the HV. That primary supply to the final transformers is >> almost always 11kV (measured phase to phase), although there are still >> a very few local distribution networks operating at 6.6kV in a couple >> of areas. Thus a single-phase HV spur line has to be run as two "hot" >> phases. > Is the generator end wye-connected for a ground (earth?) reference, or > is there ground fault detection circuitry on delta connected > generators? Or is ground reference / ground fault not as big a > concern there as here? Just curious. Yes, the lines are referenced to ground/earth at source. The generator or transformer secondary which is FEEDING the line will either be wye configuration with a grounded neutral point, or I think sometimes they'll use a delta configuration but add auxiliary wye windings to provide the ground reference point. The same goes for much of Continental Europe. The ground on the neutral of the HV system is sometimes via a low-ish impedance rather than being solid though. That's as far as the HV neutral goes here though. Transmission and distribution is then just 3-wire 3-phase with delta-connected primaries. Srandard phase-to-phase voltage levels in Britain are 400kV, 275kV, 132kV, and 66kV for longer-distance transmission, then 33kV and 11kV for more localized distribution. As mentioned before, the older 6.6kV local systems can still be found, but are now very rare. When it gets down to LV, we have much less choice than in North America. Either single-phase 240V or 415Y/240 3-phase, plus the 240/480V 3-wire in a few rural areas. Compare that with the U.S. 120/240V 3-wire, 240V delta, 240V "high-leg" delta, 480V delta, 208Y/120V, 480Y/277V, etc., not to mention Canadian 600Y/347V. >> As noted before, in Continental Europe 3-phase supplies into homes are >> very common, however, and to British and American minds they seem to >> take 3-phase to extremes. In France, for example, it's not at all >> uncommon to find a small house which has a full 3-phase 4-wire >> 380Y/220V service, with the main breaker set to just 15 amps per >> phase! Arranging heating and cooking loads on a service like that can >> be quite a juggling act. > I can imagine. Is something like an electric range connected to 380? > Is it wired single phase or three phase? > They commonly wire ranges 3-phase wye. The elements are still just 230V, connected phase-to-neutral, but they distribute the load between phases, e.g. two rings on phase A, oven and one ring on phase b, grill/broiler and another ring on phase C. These days we often have the same models on sale in the U.K. as in Europe, and they come with a 4-way (plus ground) terminal block for the supply connection. In England, we just strap L1-L2-L3 together and connect to our single-phase 240V service on a 30 to 40A branch circuit. In Europe, they'd feed it as 4-wire 380Y/220 on a 16A 3-pole breaker. French electrical systems especially are what you might call "interesting." EDF (Electricite de France - the main supplier there) has tariff structures which are quite needlessly complex, and they have a basic standing charge which is dependent upon the maximum rating of the supply and which rises rapidly at higher levels. Hence many places try to get away with supplies which are considered ludicrously low-power by American/British standards, and not helped by the 3-phase service which then makes it hard to keep what little load can be connected evened out. (Just ask any Brit who has tripped out breakers in France trying to use his trusty 3kW electric kettle for making tea!) They even have complicated sensing and switching systems for electric heating, designed to disconnect water/space heating loads when power is drawn from a general-purpose branch circuit to avoid exceeding the limit and tripping the main breaker. Some tariffs also have a highly complex system of red, white, and blue days, combined with day and night rates giving no less than six different per-unit costs for the same supply. -Paul ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: Unusual Phishing Attempt Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 15:10:49 -0800 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In my twisted mind I'm guessing that if you call them in response to their bogus "order cancellation" you would then have established a "business relationship" with the scammer, allowing him to disregard any "no solicitation" instructions you may have signed up for at the FTCs do not call registery. If you are compelled to call such a place I'd use a coin phone or the lobby phone at your employer's office (if they're dumb enough to allow outside calls from their lobby -- I don't allow such calls from my lobby phones!) Al Jim Haynes wrote in message news:telecom25.108.3@telecom-digest.org: > What's unusual about this one is that they want you to phone a number > to give away your personal data rather than sending it to a phony web > page. Wonder who is on the other end of that phone number. > Dear Brian, [which is not my name] > Your recent order has been cancelled due to the billing information > not verifying with your issuing bank. Please call our Payment > Processing Department at 1-800-991-6828 with the correct > information and we will be happy to assist you. Please disregard > this message if we have spoken to you regarding this order. > jhhaynes at earthlink dot net > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you received that letter in actual > email I suggest they were possibly trying to avoid a scam. I called > the number and tried to bluff them out; the woman who answered asked > for my name and zip code (I gave bogus info) and she said she was > unable to find an order 'from that zip code and name' for their > various clients including 'Foot Locker' and a couple of other companies. > I get the impression it is a legitimate payment processor. 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 2006 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 V25 #111 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Mar 20 14:51:44 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 232E414FB7; Mon, 20 Mar 2006 14:51:25 -0500 (EST) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #112 Message-Id: <20060320195125.232E414FB7@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 14:51:25 -0500 (EST) 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=-2.2 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AMATEUR_PORN,AWL, BAYES_00,CELL_PHONE_IMPROVE autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 20 Mar 2006 14:52:00 EST Volume 25 : Issue 112 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FCC to Decide Verizon Broadband Request (Jeremy Pelofsky) Kinderstart Sues Google Over Index Placement (Reuters News Wire) Look Inside a Volcano (Yareth Rosen) Cellular-News for Monday 20th March 2006 (Cellular-News) TelecomDirect News Daily Update - March 20, 2006 (Telecomdirect_Daily) Motorola Brings Ultra-Broadband and IP Video Service Delivery (technology) Re: MPAA CacheLogic Announcement (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jeremy Pelofsky Subject: FCC to Decide Verizon Broadband Request Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 23:32:39 -0600 By Jeremy Pelofsky The U.S. telecoms regulator was poised to reveal on Monday whether it would ease numerous regulations on some of Verizon Communications' high-speed, broadband data services for lucrative business customers. The No. 2 U.S. telephone carrier asked the Federal Communications Commission in December 2004 to lift restrictions for business services such as carrying data over Ethernet and Internet-based virtual private networks, arguing there was sufficient competition. Republican FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has supported granting the request as part of his agenda to push broadband deployment. The FCC eased similar rules for Verizon and other big local phone carriers serving residential broadband customers last year. "I'm hopeful that we will be able to provide some regulatory relief for the incumbents deployment of fiber to not just consumers but to commercial entities as well," he told reporters on Friday. The FCC has until midnight on Sunday to block or modify Verizon's request. Because of the type of petition, no action by the commission would allow it to take effect. Martin, who controls the agency's agenda, had not circulated for a vote by the other FCC commissioners an order that would modify or block Verizon's petition as of Sunday evening, two sources following the matter said. The agency is expected to announce its action on Monday. FCC spokeswoman Tamara Lipper declined to comment because the deadline had not yet passed. The two Democrats on the commission have objected to granting the request, the sources said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. But because Martin controls the agenda, he could just let the petition take effect despite objections. Verizon's request includes lifting regulations on its business broadband data services that require the company to connect with competing networks, to negotiate just and reasonable terms for its services, and to contribute to the Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes communications for rural and low-income households. In an FCC filing last month, Verizon did offer to continue paying into the fund for a period of time. A company spokesman declined to comment ahead of the decision. The request also covers rules that require Verizon to make its business broadband service accessible to those with disabilities and require it keep customer records confidential. Comptel, a group that represents Verizon's rivals such as XO Communications, has said lifting the regulations would hobble competition and unfairly benefit one company. Earl Comstock, Comptel's chief executive, told Reuters that if Martin allows the petition to take effect, it would "carry out whatever is beneficial to Verizon" and harm others. Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news from Reuters, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Kinderstart Sues Google Regards Index Placement Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 23:34:42 -0600 Kinderstart sues Google over lower page ranking A parental advice Internet site has sued Google Inc., charging it unfairly deprived the company of customers by downgrading its search-result ranking without reason or warning. The civil lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California, on Friday by KinderStart.com seeks financial damages along with information on how Google ranks Internet sites when users conduct a Web-based search. Google could not immediately be reached for comment but the company aggressively defends the secrecy of its patented search ranking system and asserts its right to adapt it to give customers what it determines to be the best results. KinderStart charges that Google without warning in March 2005 penalized the site in its search rankings, sparking a "cataclysmic" 70 percent fall in its audience -- and a resulting 80 percent decline in revenue. At its height, KinderStart counted 10 million page views per month, the lawsuit said. Web site page views are a basic way of measuring audience and are used to set advertising rates. "Google does not generally inform Web sites that they have been penalized nor does it explain in detail why the Web site was penalized," the lawsuit said. While an entire sub-industry exists to help Web sites feature prominently in Google results, the company is known to punish those who try to trick the system into boosting their search rankings. The lawsuit notes that rival search systems from Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and Yahoo Inc. feature Kinderstart.com at the top of their rankings when the name "Kinderstart" is typed in. The complaint accuses Google, as the dominant provider of Web searches, of violating KinderStart's constitutional right to free speech by blocking search engine results showing Web site content and other communications. KinderStart contends that once a company has been penalized, it is difficult to contact Google to regain good standing and impossible to get a report on whether or why the search leader took such action. The suit was filed the same day a federal judge denied a U.S. government request that Google be ordered to hand over a sample of keywords customers use to search the Internet while requiring the company to produce some Web addresses indexed in its system. Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news from Reuters, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Yereth Rosen Subject: Alaska Volcano's Web Site Allows Look Deep Inside Crater Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 23:36:17 -0600 By Yereth Rosen Want to peer into the steaming summit of an erupting volcano without risking death? Anyone with an Internet connection and a computer can do just that, thanks to about 30 cameras and other recording devices set up on Alaska's Augustine Volcano that are streaming information to a Web site hosted by the Alaska Volcano Observatory, a joint federal-state office. The site http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Augustine.php has received over 253 million hits since the start of the year, becoming a popular destination for everyone from scientists to amateur volcano buffs who want to keep tabs on the restless 4,134-foot (1,260-meter) volcano. "The Web has really revolutionized information dissemination and consequently the level of interest and knowledge of the public," said Shan de Silva, a volcanologist and professor at the University of North Dakota. Augustine Volcano, on an uninhabited island about 175 miles southwest of Anchorage, roared to life on January 11 with an explosion that shot ash miles into the air. It sits under a major air travel route between Asia and North America. The volcano has remained active since then with a series of ash-producing explosions but has settled into a period of less-dramatic lava burbling, dome building and occasional small ash puffs. For scientists, Augustine provides a near-perfect combination of factors. It is close to population centers, but not so close that it poses any serious risks. Its flanks and summit are dotted with more monitoring instruments than perhaps any U.S. volcano except Mt. St. Helens in Washington and Mauna Loa in Hawaii. "It's a new way of monitoring volcanoes now, but this is going to be kind of the standard way of doing it," said Chris Waythomas, a U.S. Geological Survey geologist who works at the Alaska Volcano Observatory. CHOCK FULL OF INFORMATION The plethora of seismic information flowing out of the volcano provided scientists with plenty of warning about what was going to happen well before the initial January eruption. "It happened a little sooner than we thought, but we weren't surprised that it happened," said Waythomas. There are real-time photographic images, seismic graphs, data from thermal sensors, satellite images and photographs taken by scientists who fly over the peak at least a couple times a week and occasionally land on it -- all displayed on the observatory's Web page. The most popular features on the site are images from a Web camera perched on the volcano's east side and other photographs, said observatory officials. The only nagging problems have been periodic buildups of ice and snow on the camera's lens and bad weather that sometimes limits overflights. For scientists, the detailed images provide a bounty of information about this extended eruptive phase to help study the nature of the magma rising out of Augustine and the incremental changes to the volcano's summit dome. Among the site's fans are middle school students in Homer, a coastal town across the inlet from Augustine. Students know the volcano well from their western skyline, yet they have been glued to the computer, said Suzanne Haines, a Homer Middle School geography and history teacher who has incorporated Augustine information into her lessons. "It's such an amazing resource because the science is fairly easy to understand on the Web site," said Haines, noting that students are so interested due to the volcano's proximity. "It's not something that's far away." (Additional reporting by Daisuke Wakabayashi in Seattle) Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-Nws for Monday 20th March 2006 Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 08:05:54 -0600 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com [[Financial News]] UK PRESS: Vodafone Likely To Sell Japan Unit To Softbank http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16575.php Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin is set to announce the sale of Vodafone Group's Japan unit to SoftBank Corp. after dismissing a joint approach from private U.S. equity firms Cerberus Partners LP and Providence Equity Partners Inc, the Daily Teleg... Brazil's Telco Results Show Brighter Wireless Outlook http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16576.php Fourth-quarter results reflected an improvement in the outlook for Brazil's wireless operators, while integrated operators showed solid but uninspiring results. ... Vodafone Sells Japanese Operations For GBP8.9 Billion http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16577.php Vodafone Group Friday said it has agreed to sell its 97.68% interest in Vodafone Japan to SoftBank for an enterprise value of about JPY1.8 trillion (GBP8.9bn) of which GBP6.8bn will be received in cash on closing. ... NEWS SNAP: Vodafone To Return GBP6 Billion After Japan Sale http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16578.php Vodafone Group, Friday said it will return GBP6 billion in cash to shareholders via a special dividend after agreeing to sell its Japanese unit to Softbank Corp., the Japanese Internet company. ... Swiss Government To Propose Swisscom Stake Sale http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16579.php The Swiss government Friday said it has "in principle" decided to make a full exit as a shareholder of telecommunications company Swisscom, and has decided against favoring Swiss retail investors in the planned privatization. ... Verizon Stuck With Vodafone In Wireless Arm, For Now http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16583.php It appears as if Verizon Communications hit a road block with Vodafone Group over joint venture Verizon Wireless. ... Telefonica makes bid for outstanding TEM shares http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16585.php Spanish telco Telefonica has made an offer to buy the shares it does not own in its wireless unit Telefonica Mviles for 3.46bn euros (US$4.2bn) to tap faster growth from mobile phone services, the company said in a statement. ... Motorola Outlook Upgrades by Debt Agency http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16593.php The debt ratings agency, Standard & Poor's has affirmed it's 'BBB+' corporate credit rating and other ratings on Motorola. The outlook is revised to positive, from stable reflecting generally improving profitability trends, benefiting from the compan... SBA Buys Rival Tower Firm http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16596.php The USA based tower management firm, SBA Communications has signed an agreement to buy AAT Communications for US$634 million in cash and the issuance of 17,059,336 shares of its common stock. The acquisition of AAT will substantially expand SBA's exi... [[Handsets News]] PRESS: Sistema's Sitronics to sell cell phones via Euroset http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16581.php Russia's electronics producer Sitronics, a subsidiary of major Russian holding AFK Sistema, plans to sell its mobile handsets through the chain of Russia's largest mobile handset retailer Euroset starting Friday, Andrei Panagushin, Sitronics' telecom... [[Legal News]] Forgent's `Patent Trolling' Strategy Takes Litigious Path http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16584.php AUSTIN, Texas (AP)--While most technology companies make money by developing software, building hardware or providing services, Forgent Networks Inc. has taken a different route: It produces threats and lawsuits that try to cash in on ideas. ... BrT starts arbitration process against TIM merger agreements http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16587.php Brazil's third largest fixed line operator Brasil Telecom (BrT) has started an arbitration process against Italian mobile group TIM regarding merger agreements signed last year, BrT said in a press release. ... [[Network Operators News]] Orbitel to launch WiMax 3-play in 1H06 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16586.php Colombian long-distance operator Orbitel is preparing to launch WiMax-based triple-play service during the first half of 2006, Orbitel communications director Luz Ochoa told BNamericas. ... Diplomats Get Improved Cellphone Service http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16594.php The GSM network operator, Celtel in Sierra Leone has started operations of a new base station in the capital city, Freetown that is designed to improve services for diplomatic staff in the country. The Minister for Lands and Country Planning Dr Bobso... Call Quality Problems Declined for a 2nd Consecutive Year http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16595.php The overall rate of customers experiencing a wireless call quality problem has declined for a second consecutive year, with reported problems per 100 calls (PP100) reaching the lowest level since the inaugural study in 2003, according to a J.D. Power... [[Personnel News]] Sprint Nextel CEO 2005 Total Pay $5 Million Less Options, Shares http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16580.php Sprint Nextel Corp. said Friday President and Chief Executive Gary D. Forsee received 2005 compensation of $5 million, compared with about $3.5 million for 2004. Both figures exclude stock options and restricted stock awards. ... Verizon Wireless Ranks in Training Magazine's Top 10 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16597.php Verizon Wireless says that it has been named to Training magazine's 2006 list of "Top 100 Training Organizations in America." This is the fifth consecutive year Verizon Wireless has been recognized for its training and development programs. The compa... [[Regulatory News]] Nextel asks Cofetel to rescind operators' licenses on SMS spat http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16588.php Mexican trunking operator Nextel has asked telecommunications regulator Cofetel to rescind the mobile concessions contracts of three mobile operators due to their failure to follow a Cofetel order to allow SMS interconnection, local daily Milenio rep... [[Reports News]] Corporate Phone Bills Now One Third Cellular - report http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16592.php Spending by businesses on wireless telecommunications services accounted for nearly one-third the corporate bill for telecommunication services in 2005, says a new market research report from Insight Research. By the close of 2005, total US business ... [[Statistics News]] Ukraine's mobile services revenue up 46.3% on year in Jan-Feb http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16582.php Ukranian mobile operators took in 2.564 billion hryvnas in revenues in January-February, or 46.3% up on the year, Ukraine?s State Statistics Committee said Friday. ... Hong Kong China Unicom Adds 1.17 Million Subscribers In Feb http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16589.php Mobile phone services operator China Unicom Ltd. said Sunday it added 1.17 million subscribers in February, bringing its total mobile customers to 130.27 million. ... [[Technology News]] Cellphones Acting as a Mesh Network http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16590.php An interesting patent has been filed by Agilent Technologies which would enable a cellphone to act in a manner not dissimilar to a wireless Mesh Network. The patent in essence allows a handset to communicate with a base station which is out of range,... Boosting Coverage in Disaster Areas http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16591.php CellAntenna has announced the release of a fully-portable version of the company's CAE700 dual-band repeater system, which allows government agencies and other users to immediately deploy a solution that boosts cellular signals in outdoor and indoor... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 11:25:26 -0500 From: telecomdirect_daily Subject: TelecomDirect News Daily Update - Monday, March 20, 2006 Reply-To: telecomdirect_daily-owner@telecomdirectnews.com ******************************** PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents The TelecomDirect News Daily Update For March 20, 2006 ******************************** Mapping Out Business Success http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17155?11228 As the cable industry directs increasing attention to the sizeable opportunity presented by business services, a detailed understanding of market structure and resulting technical requirements is essential both for business planners and plant construction planners. In this article, we will relate the geography of business... Improving Mobile Phone Memory http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17153?11228 As designers cram ever more features into mobile phones--music, video, location-based services and so on -- the devices are becoming increasingly sophisticated and powerful. Yet, despite the added complexity, users still expect their phones to start up and operate quickly and flawlessly. Unfortunately, current memory technology is... Consolidation Fever Grips European Telecoms Market http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17147?11228 The spotlight is yet again on consolidation in the European telecoms market. With Vodafone's symbolic scaling back of its global ambitions, Europe's telecoms operators are gearing up for an eventful consolidation era. Although the trend had long been expected, recent events have brought the issue to the fore with suggestions and... Telenor Offers To Sell Stake in Ukrainian Mobile Telephone Group To End Dispute http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17146?11228 OSLO, Norway -- Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor ASA on Monday offered to sell its stake in main Ukrainian mobile phone group Kyivstar to end a legal dispute. Telenor said it was willing to sell its 56.5 percent interest in the Ukrainian mobile operator to Russia's OAO VimpelCom Communications for US$5 billion in cash.... Startup to Wed Mobile Games, Live TV Shows http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/100/17145?11228 SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Dialing into the fast-growing market for mobile games, a San Francisco-based startup is poised to unveil a new service on Monday that it hopes will make television viewers as hooked to their cell phones as they are to remote controls. AirPlay Network Inc. said it will introduce a lineup of cell phone games tied... FCC Adds Another Layer, Seeks More 700 MHz Info http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17143?11228 Things were short and sweet at Friday's Federal Communications Commission open meeting, with only two telecom-related items up for discussion. Both, however, passed unanimously. First, the commission voted to establish a Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau to address issues related to national security, emergency management and... Ericsson Wants Riverstone http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17141?11228 In a move as shocking as a 12th-seed upset, Ericsson AB has made an 11th-hour bid for Riverstone Networks Inc. possibly unraveling the plans for Lucent Technologies Inc. to acquire the struggling company. Ericsson's bid of $178 million -- filed at yesterday's... Copyright (C) 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers. ------------------------------ From: technology_post@yahoo.com Subject: Motorola Brings Ultra-Broadband and IP Video Service Delivery Together Date: 20 Mar 2006 10:10:18 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Motorola Brings Ultra-Broadband and IP Video Service Delivery Together to Drive Rich Personalized Consumer Experiences End-to-end solution across wireline broadband, wireless broadband, IP video delivery and home networking addresses consumer demand for seamless entertainment experiences Read Full article at http://technology-post.com/tech/?p=373 ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: MPAA CacheLogic Announcement Date: 20 Mar 2006 10:24:50 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com John McHarry wrote: > I don't think copyright was intended as property as such, but since it > can be bought and sold, it might as well be. Legally, copyrights and patents are defined as a form of personal property. > What galls me is that when the terms of copyrights were extended, they > made that apply to unexpired rights granted for shorter terms. That is > simply stealing from the public domain. The costs and risks to create > such material were already assumed under the original terms, and most > of the expected or hoped for rewards reaped. I don't find the > "ownership rights" to such material legitimate at all. I'm not comfortable when claims about made about "public domain". Technically you are correct -- once work expired it becomes public domain. However, it was private property to begin with. If the copyright was still in force, I have no problem extending it. I also don't agree with the concept "cost and risk were already 'assumed'". Again, technically that is true, but still the work was private property. In many cases today, a work presumed to have little value suddenly becomes valuable. I don't think it's fair that someone else other than the original owner should profit from someone's work, and that is what's happening. If laws change that add to the value of land, we don't deny existing landowners from benefitting from that. Another modern issue is material exploitation. I strongly doubt Disney could make any money off of early Mickey Mouse cartoons. Other than curiosity, they just aren't very interesting to today's market. However, I can see Disney's legitimate interest from protecting Mickey Mouse from exploitation. With it going into public domain, someone could (and probably would) make some porn movie using Mickey or other demeaning stuff. Keep in mind this is not an issue of free speech; anyone could've always critiqued Mickey Mouse all they wanted. (Further, Mickey Mouse is not an element of government, but a private entity). If you want to make a porn movie, come up with your own characters, don't steal someone else's. Keep in mind not all copyright and patent holders are wealthy big corporations. Many belong to individuals who welcome and need the modest extra revenue. Further, many copyrights and patents, even when developed at great expense, are worthless because of lack of interest. > I think the current term for copyright is something like the life of > the author plus 70 years, or 95 years for corporate works. Nobody > determines whether to invest money or effort on expected returns that > far out. This is closer to a perpetuity than a limited time. I'm not sure what the current terms are. The previous term was 56 years. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: > But then, in the middle 1990's, along come the latest interlopers into > our village, the music and video producers. _They_ seem to feel the > rules should be different for them. _They_ feel we all have to play by > their rules. I'm not sure I understand. I don't think the producers seek to change how public domain material is shared or how the older parts of the Internet function. Rather, they merely seek to protect their own works from illegal theft, and I don't have a problem with that. I like to point out that when it comes to "changing the rules", the Internet users themselves can be the most vocal. I used to get on via an old BBS system, and I was flamed constantly visciously for posts that didn't meet the "latest standards". A heck of a lot of amateur websites require the use of the very latest browser version and functionality. Those of us with older computers can't get on. I blame the technies -- which are many Internet users -- for constantly implementing new versions of stuff, forcing the rest of us to upgrade. Indeed, it's almost impossible to use the Internet with dial up because so many sites are so bloated that one needs high speed to do anything in a reasonable period of time. On the rare occassion I find a old style website I can get plenty of info at 14.4. > We were here a long time prior, and had our own informal > rules to play by; _they_ say forget all those rules, our rules will > now apply. Again, I don't understand what they're trying to do to existing public domain stuff. Is someone trying to claim ownership of this Digest? Unfortunately, life is full of changing rules. Everyone here knows I strongly supported the old Bell System in its fight against MCI -- I felt MCI was changing the rules to benefit itself while making the Bell System keep with the old rules (cream skimming). But it appears my views on this are very much in the minority. Farmers get screwed when civiliation moves close to them. New residents in new developments suddenly discover real life farming is not antiseptic little TV cartoons. It is smelly, noisy 24/7, and dirty, with slow tractors blocking roads. The new residents can successfully sue in court to shut down the "nuisance" even though the farm existed many years before they came. (Then when the farm is sold to developers, the residents complain about that, wanting the farmland to be left as open space, at someone else's expense.) ------------------------------ 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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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2006 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 V25 #112 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Mar 21 22:52:44 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id C9BB71540B; Tue, 21 Mar 2006 22:52:43 -0500 (EST) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #113 Message-Id: <20060322035243.C9BB71540B@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 22:52:43 -0500 (EST) 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=-3.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Tue, 21 Mar 2006 22:56:00 EST Volume 25 : Issue 113 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Sprint Sues in Theft of Call Records Case (Reuters News Wire) Spring is Here; Two Feet of Snow With It (Ashley M. Heher) Online Dating Brings Trouble (Verna Gates) Bringing Botnets Out of Shadows/Online Volunteers Monitor (Monty Solomon) TelecomDirect News Daily Update - March 21, 2006 (telecomdirect_daily) CEOs Talk up New Era in Media, Telecom Services (USTelecom dailyLead) Future of Video on Display TelecomNEXT (USTelecom dailyLead) Celular-News for Tuesday 21st March 2006 (Ccellular-News) Re: Kinderstart Sues Google Regards Index Placement (Danny Burstein) Re: Kinderstart Sues Google Regards Index Placement (Jared) Re: Kinderstart Sues Google Regards Index Placement (Jsw) Re: Internet and Civil Liberties? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Cellphone Technical Question (Joseph Singer) 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: Sprint Sues in Theft of Call Records Case Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 14:07:51 -0600 Sprint Nextel Corp. said on Monday it filed a lawsuit against a Florida private investigation firm alleging that it uses illegal practices to get hold of its customers' phone call records. Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. wireless provider, accused San Marco & Associates of St. Petersburg, Florida, of invading customer privacy and getting hold of personal information under false pretenses. U.S. wireless service providers have recently been cracking down on Web sites that offer to sell phone call records. Sprint filed the suit on March 17 in a federal court in Florida. It said it requested temporary and permanent injunctions against the company. Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html ------------------------------ From: Ashley M. Heher Subject: Spring is Here; Two Feet of Snow With it Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 12:51:16 -0600 Spring Snow Storm Buries Plains, Midwest By ASHLEY M. HEHER, Associated Press Writer The spring snow storm that buried parts of Nebraska under more than 2 feet of snow swept through the Ohio Valley on Tuesday, shutting down schools and making travel tough for voters headed for the polls for the Illinois' primary election. As much as two inches of snow an hour fell in some areas of Illinois and Indiana, and wind gusted to 40 mph, weather officials said. "Our weather's terrible. The highways are terrible. It's not the highway department's fault, they just can't keep up with it," said Morgan County, Ill., Sheriff's Deputy Trevor Lahey. He answered more than 50 calls Tuesday morning about cars in ditches west of Springfield. In Colorado, Interstate 70 reopened early Tuesday after its eastbound lanes between Denver and the Kansas line were shut down for nearly 18 hours because of heavy snow. Interstate 80 remained closed across central Nebraska but was expected to reopen during the day. The storm dumped as much as 28 inches of snow on central Nebraska on Monday, 20 inches in parts of South Dakota and half a foot in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Wind piled the snow into drifts 7 feet high in parts of South Dakota and Nebraska. Farther south, heavy rain caused flooding in the Dallas area. By midmorning Tuesday, more than 7 inches of snow had fallen on parts of western Indiana, and wind up to 25 mph created whiteout conditions in some areas, the National Weather Service said. Indiana State Police reported dozens of accidents. School districts across central Illinois and western and central Indiana closed for the day. The weather was expected to contribute to low voter turnout for Illinois' primary election, which includes gubernatorial and congressional races. It hit after an unseasonably warm winter in which snowfall was 30 percent to 50 percent below normal in Indiana. Through mid-March, Indianapolis had used only about two-thirds of its $4.6 million snow-removal budget, officials said. Indiana state climatologist Dev Niyogi said the erratic weather will likely continue, in part because of the impact of La Nina, the mild cooling of the tropical Pacific Ocean that often coincides with stronger and more frequent hurricanes, a wetter Pacific Northwest and a drier South. "I think the important feature of the upcoming season is not just going to be a really cold or really warm season ahead, but the swings we are going have," he said. "Some days will really feel like winter again and some days we'll start thinking that maybe that summer is already here." Schools also remained closed for a second day Tuesday in parts of the Plains states. The Nebraska Legislature canceled its Tuesday meeting, and the South Dakota Legislature rescheduled Monday's meetings. At least five deaths were blamed on the storm in Colorado, Nebraska and Texas. Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news from Associated Press please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Verna Gates Subject: Online Dating Brings Trouble Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 12:58:57 -0600 Perils of online dating prompt safety efforts By Verna Gates Josie Phyllis Brown never had a chance against her 6-foot-6-inch (2-meter) killer, although his stature was one of the few things she should have known from his Internet profile. John Christopher Gaumer, who confessed to the murder and led Baltimore County police to Brown's body on February 7, listed his height and other attributes in his quest for dates on MySpace.com, a free Internet social site owned by News Corp. where mostly young people connect for friendship and romance. Some personal profiles on the Web site are frighteningly revealing. People publish their birth dates, schools they attend, even clubs they will frequent on a given Saturday night, complete with a cellphone number for whomever might care to join them. "Think about, there are millions of people we're dealing with here and somehow people think they are all preachers," said Paul Falzone, chief executive of Together Dating service, a brick-and-mortar company that performs background checks on all members. Falzone says background checks result in 10 percent of applicants being rejected. For most of the 40 million people using Internet sites for dating and socializing each month, a disastrous 15 minutes over coffee at Starbucks is the worst they will suffer. But there is enough danger out there that some U.S. states are considering legislation to force Internet dating sites to police themselves, while companies that do background checks say business is booming. SCREENING DATES Only a small percentage of "intimate partner violence" -- nearly 700,000 such incidents were reported to the U.S. Department of Justice in 2001 -- originate from Internet dating, according to Mark Brooks, editor of Online Personals, which monitors the dating industry. For upstart online service http://True.com, even one assault is too much. The site performs background checks on every member, ferreting out sex offenders, felons and married people. About 11 percent of those who apply are rejected. "To think a felon could find a victim, especially for a heinous crime, gives me the heebie-jeebies. I do all I can do to prevent that," said Herb Vest, chief executive of http://True.com. Nevertheless, Robert Wells, convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14, passed the http://True.com screening and posted a profile on that site. The company is suing him, claiming he committed wire fraud. The small competitor is pressing for legislation to force big Web sites like http://Match.com and http://Yahoo.com to perform background checks, or clearly state they don't. So far, California, Florida, Texas and Michigan have considered legislation. http://Yahoo.com and http://Match.com the industry leaders with 6 million and 15 million monthly visitors espectively, continually stress dating safety. Match.com forces the 60,000 people who sign up for the service each month to review its safety policies before they subscribe. On both sites, every profile is reviewed and approved by human eyes to screen out excess information or obscenity. Around 15 percent of postings are rejected, according to Kristin Kelly, spokesperson for Match.com. That is not enough for some. DARK SIDE OF THE 'NET "The Internet has its dark side and they are not doing everything they can to keep sexual predators and gold diggers off these sites. If you don't police yourselves, the government will come in and police you," said Michigan state Sen. Alan Cropsey. Cropsey has sponsored a bill that would force Web sites to do background checks, and it proposes posting a warning label on sites, much like those on cigarette packs. Cropsey's legislation met vigorous resistance from the online industry. "There are other ways to get to who that person is, rather than have the government ram a business model down your throat," said Abraham Smilowicz, chief executive of Webdate Inc. Webdate uses real-time video as a safety measure, allowing prospective dates to chat and get a look at each other via webcams. Daters themselves are also stepping forward to create their own safeguards. Companies like Safedate and Honestyonline are springing up to run background checks for individuals and grant their stamp of approval. Honestyonline will even come to a home, weigh prospective daters, take a picture and leave with bodily fluids to confirm disease-free status. William Bollinger, executive vice president of National Background Data, said his business had grown 600 percent in the past two years. Even a background check would not have saved Lori Leonard. The boyfriend she met via the Internet was convicted of her murder on January 27 in Hudson Falls, N.Y. His record showed only misdemeanors from assaults on former girlfriends, not the sort of information churned up in basic background checks. Leonard endured two assaults before her death. According to Dr. John Gray, author of "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus," education is the solution. "The warning signs often come out right away. Beware of someone who can solve all your problems or who comes on really strong," said Gray. Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news headlines from Reuters please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 14:06:20 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Bringing Botnets Out of the Shadows / Online Volunteers Monitor Bringing Botnets Out of the Shadows Online Volunteers Monitor Illegal Computer Networks By Brian Krebs washingtonpost.com Staff Writer Tuesday, March 21, 2006; 9:39 AM Nicholas Albright's first foray into some of the darkest alleys of the Internet came in November 2004, shortly after his father committed suicide. About a month following his father's death, Albright discovered that online criminals had broken into his dad's personal computer and programmed it to serve as part of a worldwide, distributed network for storing pirated software and movies. Albright managed to get the network shuttered with a call to the company providing the Internet access the criminals were using to control it. From that day forward, Albright poured all of his free time and pent-up anger over his father's death into assembling "Shadowserver," a group of individuals dedicated to battling large, remote-controlled herds of hacked personal PCs, also known as "botnets." Now 27, Albright supports his wife and two children as a dispatcher for a health care company just outside of Boulder, Colo. When he is not busy fielding calls, Albright is chatting online with fellow Shadowserver members, trading intelligence on the most active and elusive botnets. Each "bot" is a computer on which the controlling hacker has installed specialized software that allows him to commandeer many of its functions. Hackers use bots to further their online schemes or as collection points for users' personal and financial information. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/21/AR2006032100279.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 11:55:56 -0500 From: telecomdirect_daily Subject: TelecomDirect News Daily Update - Tuesday, March 21, 2006 Reply-To: telecomdirect_daily-owner@telecomdirectnews.com ******************************** PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents The TelecomDirect News Daily Update For March 21, 2006 ******************************** Getting Value in Tax Risk Management From Sox 404 http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17175?11228 The passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act--which resulted in major changes to the compliance practices of many U.S. companies--has fundamentally changed the way in which business organisations are required to report their financial data. However, since the Act was passed, the general view has been that the process required for compliance is... Will Bluetooth Pick UWB Sides? http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17174?11228 After years of hearing from Doubting Thomases, Bluetooth technology has really started taking off. Bluetooth shipments globally grew by more than 200 percent annually from 2004 to 2005 and are expected to reach 10 million units shipped weekly sometime in 2006. As Bluetooth's evolution continues into a broadband future, however, there... Deutsche Telekom Links with Microsoft To Deliver Internet TV Services in Germany http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17172?11228 FRANKFURT, Germany -- Deutsche Telekom AG said Tuesday it has formed an alliance with Microsoft Corp. to offer Internet television services to subscribers in Germany this year. The announcement comes as Deutsche Telekom, Europe's biggest telecommunications company, expands its national network of high-speed digital subscriber... Ofcom Frees BT, Others to Set Call Prices http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17168?11228 After 22 years of price controls in the liberalised British telecoms market, Ofcom has proposed to deregulate retail price controls on fixed lines. From 1 August 2006, all phone companies will be free to set their own prices and compete for customers. In a statement released today, the regulator said: 'Ofcom believes that it is now... Vodafone Portugal Objects to Sonae Bid for Portugal Telecom http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17164?11228 Vodafone Portugal has signalled its opposition to Sonae's takeover of Portugal Telecom, citing an unfavourable competitive scenario if Sonae's mobile unit Optimus merges with Portugal Telecom's TMN. In a statement, Vodafone said: 'The bid for PT by Sonae could create or reinforce a dominant position from which significant barriers to... RBOCs to Vendors: More Nines, Please http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17162?11228 LAS VEGAS -- TelecomNEXT -- Four of the biggest U.S. incumbent carriers sent a message to telecom equipment vendors in a CTO panel here. Life is going to get a lot tougher, and it's not just because consolidation is concentrating capital expenditure among fewer and fewer players. (See Verizon Closes MCI Buy, SBC Becomes AT&T,... IPTV In A Box http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17158?11228 With IPTV barreling down the track like an express train, mPhase Technologies and a group of its partners have put together a sort of "starter kit" for bewildered telcos -- particularly smaller ones not ready to take on the daunting task of integrating a solution on their own. The offering, called "IPTV in a Box," is said to include... Copyright (C) 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 13:25:50 EST From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: CEOs Talk Up New Era in Media, Telecom Services USTelecom dailyLead March 21, 2006 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/djwsfDtutcbuudPGRg TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * CEOs talk up new era in media, telecom services BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * News from TelecomNEXT: * Verizon will pay to carry CBS signal * DT picks Microsoft TV for IPTV deployment * Cable has easier time selling phone service, execs say * Report: Several key suppliers eye Siemens' telecom assets USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Communications and entertainment take center stage only at TelecomNEXT TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * AOL eyes broader offering for broadband TV * Ubiquitous mobile phone gets one more use REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * FCC deregulates Verizon's high-speed data lines * U.K. regulator proposes lifting price limits on BT services * Experts warn of risks associated with muni Wi-Fi * Is China ready to issue VoIP licenses? Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/djwsfDtutcbuudPGRg ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 14:11:21 EST From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Future of Video on Display TelecomNEXT USTelecom dailyLead March 20, 2006 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/djlMfDtutcaXhRubwb TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Future of video on display TelecomNEXT BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * News from TelecomNEXT * Verizon emphasizes growth over size * Rural telco may revolutionize TV business * XO, Hatteras strike Ethernet deal * VoIP market begins to see changes * VeriSign snaps up m-Qube USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * The Intersection Starts Now - Delivering Services at the Speed of Competition * TelecomNEXT debuts in Las Vegas TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * AirPlay links reality TV, sports to mobile phone games * "M:I-3" game to hit mobile screens in May REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Cable, telecoms stop fighting citywide Wi-Fi Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/djlMfDtutcaXhRubwb ------------------------------ Subject: cellular-news for Tuesday 21st March 2006 Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 07:46:54 -0600 From: cellular-news Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com [[ 3G ]] 3 Group Signs Mobile Services Agreement With Microsoft http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16600.php 3 Group, the mobile telecommunications subsidiaries of Hutchison Whampoa, Monday said it has signed a global mobile services agreement with Microsoft, which will enable 3 customers to access the software company's instant messaging and free e-mail pr... [[ Financial ]] NTT DoCoMo To Buy Mobile Phone Operation Cos In Guam http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16599.php NTT DoCoMo said Monday that it will purchase two telecommunications firms in Guam for a combined $71.8 million to offer wireless network services to Japanese tourists visiting the island. ... Temasek Placing Out Around 770 Million SingTel Shares http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16601.php Singapore's state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings said late Monday it's placing out around 770 million ordinary Singapore Telecommunications shares in a move that could raise as much as S$2.16 billion. ... Telenor proposes VimpelCom buys Kyivstar for at least $5 bln http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16602.php Norwegian telecommunication operator Telenor has made a proposal that Russia?s second largest mobile operator VimpelCom pay at least US$5 billion in cash to acquire 100% in Ukraine's largest mobile operator Kyivstar, Telenor said in a press release M... Hong Kong Hutchison '05 Net Seen Up On One-Offs,Accounting Rule http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16603.php Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. is expected to post a solid growth in its 2005 net profit on one-off gains and stronger contributions from its ports and energy operations, though its third-generation mobile business is still unprofitabl... PRESS: MTS to invest $7-10 bln in foreign acquisitions by 2010 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16604.php Russia's largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) plans to invest US$7 billion to $10 billion in foreign acquisitions by 2010, MTS President Vasily Sidorov said in an interview with Vedomosti business daily published Monday. ... Telefonica Not Considering Raising Moviles Offer http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16605.php Telefonica, Monday said it's not mulling to raise its EUR3.5 billion all-share offer for the 7.5% stake it doesn't yet own of its mobile unit Telefonica Moviles. ... Amazia Celular records loss of US$19.9mn in 2005 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16606.php Brazilian mobile carrier Tele Norte Celular Participales (Amaz ia Celular) recorded a net loss of 42.4mn reais (US$19.9mn) for 2005 compared to a net loss of 2.6mn reais in 2004, Tele Norte said in its earnings statement. ... SunCom sees 2005 US$496mn net loss http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16608.php US and Caribbean mobile operator SunCom Wireless Holdings made a net loss of US$496mn in 2005 compared to a net profit of US$704mn in 2004, the company said in a statement. ... Huawei to loan Ola up to US$9.9mn http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16609.php Chinese equipment manufacturer Huawei Technologies has been authorized by Colombia's finance ministry to provide a loan of up to US$9.9mn to national mobile operator Colombia Moviles (Ola), reported local daily Portafolio. ... Vodafone Portugal Opposes Sonae, Portugal Telecom Merger http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16612.php Vodafone PLC's (VOD) Portugal unit on Monday said it opposed the idea of merging Sonaecom SGPS' mobile unit Optimus with Portugal Telecom's mobile unit TMN. ... [[ Legal ]] Another Lawsuit To Prevent Identity Fraud http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16614.php Sprint Nextel says that it has filed a lawsuit against a private investigation firm that employs deceptive practices to illegitimately obtain customer call detail records, and then sells the confidential information to online data brokers. In its com... [[ Mobile Content ]] Crazy Frog Spreads Its Empire http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16617.php VeriSign, the company behind "that annoying thing" - aka the Crazy Frog ringtone is buying m-Qube, a developer of, and billing platform for mobile content, applications and messaging services. m-Qube delivers premium messaging and content services th... [[ Network Contracts ]] Alcatel Wins Tunisia GSM Contract http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16613.php Alcatel has been awarded a US$61 million contract to extend the GSM/EDGE mobile network of Tunisie Telecom, the incumbent fixed and mobile operator in Tunisia. Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel will provide Tunisie Telecom with its Evolium mul... WiMAX trial for Sri Lanka http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16615.php Sri Lanka Telecom has started testing a WiMAX broadband wireless solution based on equipment provided by Aperto Networks. Upon the completion of the trial, services based on the WiMAX network will be made commercially available. Aperto Networks has p... [[ Network Operators ]] Reiman doesn't see Russia's Svyazinvest mobile units' merger soon http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16610.php The merger of mobile operators under the control of Russia's national telecom holding Svyazinvest is unlikely to happen before the holding's privatization, IT and Telecommunications Minister Leonid Reiman told a news conference Monday. ... [[ Regulatory ]] Reiman wants mobile operators to limit tariff hikes on CPP launch http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16611.php Russian mobile operators should take a "measured approach" in hiking their tariffs after the introduction of the Calling Party Pays principle, Russian IT and Telecommunications Minister Leonid Reiman told a news conference Monday. ... [[ Reports ]] Customers Unwilling to Pay for Premium Services - report http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16616.php Telecom industry executives are focusing on growing their revenues by introducing new products and services, yet, as the industry moves toward a converged services environment, many consumers say they may be unwilling to pay a premium for such servic... [[ Statistics ]] China Mobile Adds 4.2 Million Users In Feb Vs 4.07 Million In Jan http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16598.php China Mobile (Hong Kong), the largest mobile carrier in China in terms of subscribers, said Monday it added 4.2 million customers in February. ... Anatel: 88 million mobiles in use, slow sales in Feb http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16607.php Brazil had 88 million mobile phones in operation by end-February, despite it being the slowest sales month for 25 months, according to data from Brazil's telecoms regulator Anatel. ... ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Re: Kinderstart Sues Google Regards Index Placement Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 21:07:22 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Reuters News Wire writes: > Kinderstart sues Google over lower page ranking > A parental advice Internet site has sued Google Inc., charging it > unfairly deprived the company of customers by downgrading its > search-result ranking without reason or warning. [ snip ] I fail to see how these suits even get to the light of day. Google is a private ranking firm, and aside from the larger societal laws regarding discrimination on race, etc., they should be free to do whatever they want with their scoring. If I put together a list of shoeshine vendors and leave some out, then unless they can show it's based on a pattern of racism (or similar...) they don't have a shoe to stand on. (If I make the claim that I've listed every single one, though, then they might, might ... have a leg regarding false advertising. Maybe.) Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 21:03:12 -0700 From: jared@netspacenospamnet.au (jared) Subject: Re: Kinderstart Sues Google Regards Index Placement Secrecy & patented? Almost all patents are publically available. The exception is when related to national security. Any recent one should be available on the patent website. http://www.uspto.gov/patft/ Is this just sloppy writing? A patent may be opaquely or broadly described (IMHO), see for example application 20020123988, assigned to Google. An example of a patent assigned to Google is 6,982,945 Baseband direct sequence spread spectrum transceiver. ??? Note that people get patents, which are often assigned to a corporation. > Google could not immediately be reached for comment but the company > aggressively defends the secrecy of its patented search ranking system > and asserts its right to adapt it to give customers what it determines > to be the best results. ------------------------------ From: jsw Subject: Re: Kinderstart Sues Google Regards Index Placement Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 09:46:28 -0600 (CST) > Google could not immediately be reached for comment but the company > aggressively defends the secrecy of its patented search ranking system IANAL, but the way I've always understood patents, if a patent is issued, the methods involved are disclosed and are not secret. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Internet and Civil Liberties? Date: 21 Mar 2006 11:17:36 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com William Warren wrote: > There has been a lot of press _lately_ because the networks were in > "Sweeps week", and the local stations were doing their bit to boost > ratings by sticking to the time-honored TV tradition - > IF IT BLEEDS, IT LEADS!!!! So are you suggesting that crimes involving the Internet are very rare? If you go back a bit in this newsgroup you'll find lots of posts about Internet crime, including its use in the abuse of minors. Are you saying these events are rare? It is true with TV news (and many newspapers) "if it bleeds it leads". But the fact is that crime is still a big part of our world, whether it is sensationalized or not. My local newspaper is reporting credit card fraud victims among our residents and it is a surprisingly and distubingly long list. Computer viruses and other forms of sabotage are no joke or pertty matter. We all have received those emails about some Nigerian prince or body part enlargement--do you think any of those claims are real? Someone is writing and sending them out and pocketing the money. There are destructive anti-social people who exploit the anonymity of the computer to act out their aggression; these are the people who write and disseminate viruses, spam, spyware, etc. > Technical _devices_ may make it easier to produce the forged documents > needed to steal someone's identity. Technical _weaknesses_ don't make > it easy to forge someone's identity: in fact, it's much more difficult > to forge an electronic identity than a paper one. ... I don't distinguish how the fraud or forgery was executed, whether someone mainipulated internal bits and bytes or merely stole someone's logon by peeking over their shoulder. Either way, the computer becomes a very powerful tool for evil and innocent people will get hurt. My concern in this topic is not only the victims of fraud, but also innocent people blamed for crimes. I'll discuss this in detail in another response. > Innocent people accused of crimes have the same protections they have > always had -- the truth -- and the truth is that we all do very > predictable things at very predictable times, in full view of dozens, if > not hundreds, of witnesses. Innocent people seldom have trouble proving > that they are what they seem. I'm glad that you have never been in trouble or ever accused of doing something wrong. But the real world is not so perfect or nice. Through DNA testing we have learned that some criminals who proclaimed innocence were indeed guilty. But we also learned that some weren't guilty and spent years in prison for crimes they clearly did not commit. The system is not perfect. Yes, someone falsely accused will probably (though not always) eventually be acquitted. But the cost to that person will be enormous -- loss of all their money on legal fees, loss of job, respect, family, home, etc. The power of computers introduces new risks for innocent people to be blamed ("framed") for crimes committed by others. Computer logs are used for conviction, but unlike other witnesses, they are silent and can't be cross examined. DLR wrote: > If you're not technically astute, you'd better hire a good lawyer > quick. But at the same time it is getting to be like the situation > with money with cocaine residue on it. For a while in the 80s it was > considered strong evidence of trafficking if you had 20s with cocaine > traces on it. Then someone showed that most of the money in > possession of police, judges, court officials, people on the street, > and most all money in major cities and soon the entire country had > traces on it. Actually, I thought recently that the courts ruled that such tainted currency was indeed admissable -- they found it on someone suspected of drug dealing. It is frightening. Modern science can detect extremely miniscule traces of substances. Ok, I'm now sitting in a public library chair. Isn't there a heck of a good chance that a strand of hair from the prior patron was left on the chair and now is on me? I certainly think so since I find such strands occassionally. Further, I notice some cat hair I brought in gets left on the chair and I have to sweep it off. Now a library is a random place; presumably the patron after me won't turn up dead with me as a suspect. But what about the workplace where we do sit in each other's chairs and desks routinely to work together? If something happened to any of my co-workers, odds are high you will find mine hair or other fluids (suppose I sneezed) on that other person, maybe even their skin. > Most all Internet fraud and other illegal activity is now based on > bogus identities. Any police force of any size who deals with this > knows it and deals with it appropriately. And most local police (at > least here in NC) call in the state guys for this type of stuff as > they have the knowledge to deal with it. Sheriff Bubba doesn't go > after much related to computers. I am not confident about this. I know too many "Sheriff Bubbas" who think they're computer experts when they're not. > Not to say people will not get falsely accused, but it should be a > minor part of the problem as time goes on. Note that one troubling social issue today is the abuse of minors through meetings and illegal photograph distribution. The police are going after this very aggressively with strong support by the public. (See other posts on this topic in this newsgroup). Anyway, a participant in this stuff has a motivation to use someone else's identity and e-account for their purposes. Here are scenarios I am concerned about, based on news media reports. Obviously they don't happen every day, but they have happened. 1) Stolen e-account information (taken by looking over shoulder or guessing a password or via spyware): a) Use the stolen account to fraudulently buy goods and services. b) Use the stolen account to send and receive illegal porn (per above). c) Create new accounts. 2) Forged e-account information: I doubt it is that hard to forge someone's name and account over the 'net. Spammers cover the tracks in various ways, such as finding an unprotected server (apparently there are a great many) and using it is a relay station. The risks are that above. 3) Civil liberties -- Loss of privacy: Because of the interest in illegal porn and assignation activities, there is more desire to monitor otherwise private internet use. This public library computer is now monitored for that reason. How far will this monitoring and searchse go? Will ISPs automatically and secretly report whenever of their clients access a website or newsgroup that is deemed "illegal"? Does the mere access of such sites constitute a crime? There was a 100 year old girls' college named "Beaver College". Although the name drew some snickers over the years, it wasn't a problem. But with the Internet, the alternate meaning of "beaver" triggered protectors and the college found itself hidden with decreasing applications. They had to rename themselves. Once they did applications went back up. 4) False identify: A big use these days of the Internet is to set up social meetings. There are matchmaker websites and chat rooms. But sometimes someone lies about who they are. There have been several cases reported where a minor claimed to be an adult, had ID (fake) and travelled to see a real adult. The real adult ended up being convicted for illegal activity. As posted in the other threads, there are minors today intentionally doing just that. Plenty of 16 y/o could easily pass as an 18 y/o college student. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A particularly odd instance of this took place for several years on http://yahoo.com : a middle-age gentleman had various online profiles of himself as older teenage _female_ members, none of whom actually existed. He seemed to 'specialize' in younger, more naive, less sophisticated males with whom he wished to have a homosexual relationship, but without telling them that at first. He would chat with them, flirt with these guys, and because they were sort of insecure anyway, easily engage the guys in chatting on a regular basis, never saying a word about his _true_ intentions. As the victims got more and more interested in a possible meeting with their new 'female friend' the hints would begin to issue forward. Meet at a certain time and place, etc, but always with a condition attached: The condition involved 'dealing with this older guy who has been hassling me a lot, following me around, etc.' 'Can you (new boy friend) help me get rid of this old guy who is always making trouble?' 'If you can do that for me, then I guess I can agree to meet you also'. Time and again, as reports later reached Yahoo, these sort of naive guys were agreeing to meet (allegedly to get rid of the interloper and trouble maker) in some deserted place -- where in fact the 'troublemaker' or 'stalker' was the original guy. The newer (and more naive guy) wound up getting sexually molested, or raped (at worst) or at the very least humiliated. Apparently the _sick impersonator_ of a female pulled this off many hundreds of times, Yahoo doing nothing to stop it, and generally the guys were to embarassed by what had happened to them sexually to ever discuss it again, until some were questioned at length by informal groups of investigators working to 'clean up Yahoo Chat'. PAT] 5) Malicious secret storage: People have been arrested for having illegal porn photos on their computer. In some cases it was found that the material was placed there by someone with malicious intent (similar to planting drugs in someone's purse). How would the victim of such an attack prove their innocence? Again, I realize these things do not happen every day, but as computers become more widespread and integrated in our daily lives, the risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time increases. [public replies, please] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 17:52:43 PST From: Mr Joseph Singer Subject: Re: Cellphone Technical Question Thu, 16 Mar 2006 17:57:00 -0500 Michael Muderick wrote: > If I leave my cell phone near my computer speakers I will hear > occasional buzzing, clicking, etc. Before the phone begins to ring, I > hear a dah..dah.daahhhhh. I know this is RF interference being picked > up by the amplifier in the speaker. If one were to record this sound > with a microphone at 11 or 22Khz, would it be possible to obtain any > information (usable signal) from the recorded audio? Odds are that you have a GSM provider such as Cingular or T-Mobile. You'll hear the "dat-dit-dit-dah-dah-dah" sound occasionally and will usually hear it prior to your phone ringing. As to what you could get with this the answer is pretty much nothing. GSM and TDMA are encrypted so you wouldn't be able to gather much of any information. ------------------------------ 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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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2006 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 V25 #113 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Mar 23 08:36:31 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id A7B4C151F8; Thu, 23 Mar 2006 08:36:29 -0500 (EST) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #114 Message-Id: <20060323133629.A7B4C151F8@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 08:36:29 -0500 (EST) 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=-3.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=unavailable version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 23 Mar 2006 08:39:00 EST Volume 25 : Issue 114 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson China Blocks VOIP Calls For Two Years (Agence France Presse) Google Evolves Into All Purpose Service (Michael Leidtke) French Lawmakers Okay Online Copyright Bill (Laurence Frost) Yahoo Instant Phone Service (Robert McMillan) Yahoo Messenger Comes Calling (Juan Carlos Perez) Bored Canadian Bureaucrat Seeks Release (Reuters News Wire) Microsoft Offers Rivals Full Technical Support (Raf Casert) CFP: MICAI-2006, Artificial Intelligence, Springer LNAI+IEEE (Alex Gelbukh) TelecomDirect News Daily Update - March 22, 2006 (telecomdirect_daily) IIR's Service Provisioning Conference (cellular-news) Cellular-News for Wednesday 22nd March 2006 (Cellular-News) AT&T Chief Says Telecom TV will Pressure Cable (USTelecom dailyLead) Re: Kinderstart Sues Google Regards Index Placement (Waitman Gobble) Re: Kinderstart Sues Google Regards Index Placement (Garrett Wollman) Re: Kinderstart Sues Google Regards Index Placement (ellis@no.spam) Followup Thoughts From Former Spammer (Ryan Pitylak) Re: Internet and Civil Liberties? (Henry) Re: Online Dating Brings Trouble (Henry) 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: Agence Frane Presse News Wire Subject: China Blocks VOIP Calls For Two Years Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 22:11:31 -0600 China has moved to protect its fixed telephone line business by banning free Internet telephone services for at least two years, the Financial Times reports. Wang Leilei, chief executive of Chinese internet portal group Tom Online, which has a joint venture with Luxembourg-based telephony provider Skype, said China would not issue any licenses for computer-to-telephone calls until 2008. The government "is not going to issue VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) licences until 2008," Wang told the newspaper. The move would likely be major setback to Skype, which was reportedly in talks last year with Chinese telecom operators to launch its computer-to-telephone service, SkypeOut. Wang, whose company is controlled by Hong Kong's wealthiest businessman Li Ka-shing, played down the decision. For Tom Online, "our strategy is to grow our user base. With a big user base, there is a lot you can do. Revenue (from SkypeOut) is not important to us because we have not put in a lot of cost," he said. Skype is a leader in VoIP and provides a subscriber service that enables web users to make ultra-cheap or free phone calls using an Internet connection on their computers. Skype's computer-to-computer calls are free while computer-to-telephone calls are charged at rates often much less than with fixed line services. China Telecom has described Skype's services as illegal and the newspaper said last year that China was experimenting with software in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen to block them. Fixed-line operators are concerned that SkypeOut could undermine their core business. Last September US technology group Verso Technologies admitted that it had sold software to an unnamed major Chinese telecoms firm that would allow China to block such telephony services. Copyright 2006 Agence France Presse. 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html ------------------------------ From: Michael Liedtke Subject: Google Evolves Into All Purpose Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 22:12:53 -0600 By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer The finance section Google Inc. unveiled Tuesday continues a philosophical shift that's turning its once-pure Internet search engine into an all-purpose Web site that seems increasingly interested in getting people to stick around instead of sending them elsewhere. The evolution has been unfolding during the past four years as Google has introduced free e-mail, news, photo sharing, instant messaging, shopping and mapping services that are staples of one-stop Web sites commonly known as "portals." The changes have sparked a debate about whether Google is moving wisely to counteract its biggest rivals -- longtime Web portals like Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN -- or overextending itself in a way that ultimately will diminish the appeal of its Internet-leading search engine. "There have been concerns that Google is doing just about everything these days but focusing on search," said Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Watch, a closely watched industry newsletter. Although Google dislikes being described as a portal, Sullivan and industry analysts said its new finance section leaves little doubt where the company is headed. "They are being fairly careful about it, but they are walking very rapidly toward becoming a portal," said Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li. "They have a lot of other services gunning for them, so they have become most keen about building user loyalty so the users don't have a reason to go someplace else." By keeping visitors on its site longer, Google gets more chances to serve up the ads that account for virtually all of its profits, although for now, at least, Google doesn't plan to show ads on its finance section. Finance emerged as one of Yahoo's first specialty sections when the Sunnyvale-based company decided to diversify beyond Internet search and began packaging content on its own Web site. Yahoo's finance section, introduced a decade ago, has turned into one of the company's most powerful traffic magnets. The 31.4 million people who came to Yahoo Finance last month spent an average of 54 minutes per visit on the site, according to comScore Media Metrix. Google spokeswoman Sonya Boralv said the company remains committed to guiding its visitors to other Web sites with useful information. "Our motivation isn't to provide sticky services," she said. Unlike Yahoo, Google isn't hiring any writers to produce articles for its finance section, which will provide links to stories by a variety of media. But Google's site will include extensive analytical tools, including interactive charts, that seem likely to keep people on its site for longer periods. When Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded the company in 1998, they pledged to focus obsessively on Web search and avoid the temptation to diversify into other areas that might distract them. "Google does not do horoscopes, financial advice or chat," Google once boasted. The corporate philosophy section of Google's Web site continues to declare: "It's best to do one thing really, really well." But that same page now includes a footnote to reflect the company's mind-set has changed during the past four years. "Over time we've expanded our view of the range of services we can offer ... and products that then seemed unlikely are now key aspects of our portfolio," Google said. "This doesn't mean we've changed our core mission; just that the farther we travel toward achieving it, the more those blurry objects on the horizon come into sharper focus (to be replaced, of course, by more blurry objects)." Google executives say the company devotes 70 percent of its time on Internet search, 20 percent on peripheral products like the finance section and e-mail and 10 percent on experiments like its recent proposal to build a high-speed Internet service in San Francisco. Now that Google has launched a finance section, Gartner Inc. analyst Allen Weiner believes the company is more likely to add financial planning and personal banking software to compete with Microsoft. Google's Boralv said the company expects to add more features to the finance section, but said nothing is immediately planned. Weiner also suspects it won't be long before Google offers a specialty section devoted exclusively to sports, just like Yahoo and MSN already do. Google's expansion already has caused some people to draw cautionary comparisons to AltaVista, a pioneering Web search engine that set out to build a more diversified portal in the 1990s. The expansion alienated AltaVista's once-loyal users as its search results deteriorated, creating an opportunity for upstarts like Google. AltaVista eventually was sold and its technology now part of Yahoo's effort to overtake Google in search. "You wouldn't think it would be possible for Google to repeat the same mistakes" as AltaVista, Sullivan said. "You would think Google would remember that one of the reasons it exists is because of the dumb things other people once did." Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news from Associated Press please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Laurence Frost Subject: French Lawmakers Okay Online Copyright Bill Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 22:16:05 -0600 By LAURENCE FROST, AP Business Writer French lawmakers approved an online copyright bill Tuesday that would require Apple to break open the exclusive format behind its market-leading iTunes music store and iPod players. The draft law -- which also sets new penalties for music pirates - would force Apple Computer Inc., Sony Corp. and others to share proprietary copy-protection technologies so that rivals can offer compatible services and players. Lawmakers in the National Assembly, France's lower house, voted 296-193 to approve the bill. The legislation now has to be debated and voted by the Senate -- a process expected to begin in May. Breaking days of silence late Tuesday, Apple said such a law would "result in state-sponsored piracy." "If this happens, legal music sales will plummet just when legitimate alternatives to piracy are winning over customers," the company said in a statement e-mailed to reporters. "IPod sales will likely increase as users freely load their iPods with 'interoperable' music which cannot be adequately protected. Free movies for iPods should not be far behind in what will rapidly become a state-sponsored culture of piracy." The Cupertino, Calif. company did not address the issue of whether it might withdraw from the French online music market, and refused further comment. Under the bill, companies would be required to reveal the secrets of hitherto-exclusive copy-protection technologies such as Apple's FairPlay format and the ATRAC3 code used by Sony's Connect store and Walkman players. That could permit consumers for the first time to download music directly to their iPods from stores other than iTunes, or to rival music players from iTunes France. Apple has most to lose because of its phenomenal penetration of the digital music market, according to analysts. Critics of the French move say legislators have no business forcing Apple to share its proprietary format -- arguing that customers know its limitations when they choose to buy an iPod. A spokesman for Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, who backed the crucial amendments, dismissed suggestions that the bill would unfairly damage Apple. "We're targeting absolutely no one with this bill," Paul Rechter said. Rather, he said, the legislation is designed to discourage online piracy by offering additional legal ways for music players and online stores to work together. "When this happens, iTunes will have the French government to thank for making it possible to draw so many Internet users toward legal platforms," Rechter added. The new interoperability rules were welcomed in principle by recording companies, which have often complained that iTunes has deprived them of any control over music pricing. "It is important to consumers to have the ability to move songs between their various listening devices," said John Kennedy, chairman and CEO of the International Federation of the Recording Industry. IFPI also said it is seeking clarification on the penalties set out in the new law for music pirates. The bill reduces penalties for file-sharing -- currently classed as criminal counterfeiting, with a theoretical but rarely applied euro300,000 ($365,000) maximum fine and jail term. Instead it promises tighter enforcement, and fines of euro38 to euro150 ($50 to $180) for those caught pirating music or movies for personal use. Hackers who disable copy-protection systems can be ordered to pay euro3,750 ($4,600), while the full counterfeiting charge and sanctions are reserved for people who distribute software used for piracy. Under France's fast-track parliamentary procedure, the Senate debate is likely to be the last full reading of the new legislation. If the Senate passes any amendments, a committee of lawmakers from both houses will be convened to thrash out a compromise text, which must then be formally approved in two final votes by senators and deputies from the lower house. Associated Press Writers Nathalie Schuck in Paris and May Wong in San Jose, Calif. contributed to this report. Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html ------------------------------ From: Robert MacMillan Subject: Yahoo Instant Phone Service Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 13:46:38 -0600 By Robert MacMillan Yahoo Inc. on Tuesday said it is launching a service in the United States that lets people make phone calls through the company's instant messaging software. Available in several other countries since December, the service allows people to make calls from their computers for 2 cents a minute or less to the top 30 national phone markets, including the United States. The "Phone Out" service also allows calls from computers to regular phones at varying rates to a total of 180 countries. Using instant messaging for phone calls is one of the latest ways that technology companies are finding cheaper ways to allow people to talk all over the world without relying on traditional phone networks. "Right now the competition is just about cheap voice calls," Forrester Research analyst Maribel Lopez said. The move also attempts to undercut rates offered by Skype, a similar service offered by eBay Inc.. Yahoo Messenger with Voice rates average between 20 percent and 30 percent lower than Skype to many major markets outside the United States, according to a comparison furnished by Yahoo. Tests in the initial five countries where the service launched proved more successful than anticipated, especially in France, said Yahoo Vice President of Communications Brad Garlinghouse, where strong demand for both Yahoo Phone In and Phone Out services occurred. Phone In allows customers to receive calls on their computers from regular and mobile phones for $2.99 a month, or $29.90 a year. Yahoo's service is one among a growing list of competitors, including Time Warner Inc.'s America Online as well as Microsoft Corp.. While initially the focus is on offering cheap phone calling for computer users, the battleground should quickly shift onto mobile and cordless phones, analysts said. Toward that end, Garlinghouse said Yahoo has struck phone partnerships with headset maker Plantronics, VTech, a maker of USB handsets, and Siemens AG, a big maker of cordless phones. Attracting and retaining mobile phone customers also is something Yahoo, with its ties to major U.S. and U.K. carriers, could use to distinguish itself from Skype. "Realistically, most of the IM services all look the same right now," Lopez said. "A lot of it has to do with who do you have the relationship with, whatever IM you may have." But Garlinghouse stopped short of saying when Yahoo Messenger might feature on mobile phones: "We have not yet announced any relationships to Yahoo Messenger with Voice onto a mobile (phone)," he said. In response to consumer complaints, Yahoo has dropped X10, the previous provider of software used to control sound quality and has signed up Global IP Sound as a supplier instead. The move brings Yahoo's audio quality exactly in line with rivals AOL, Google and Skype who rely on Global IP Sound themselves. Yahoo has also added an unobtrusive advertisement at the bottom of the Yahoo Messenger window. By contrast, America Online often features a blinking ad at the top of its AIM service. (With additional reporting by Eric Auchard in San Francisco) Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html ------------------------------ From: Juan Carlos Perez Subject: Yahoo Messenger Comes Calling Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 13:52:03 -0600 Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service Yahoo plans on Wednesday to activate Internet phone capabilities for Yahoo Messenger users in the U.S., a little more than three months after announcing this feature. Since December, Yahoo has been doing a staggered rollout of the feature, which is now available for German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Singaporean users. By enabling it in the Yahoo Messenger client software for the U.S., the capabilities become effectively available globally, said Brad Garlinghouse, Yahoo's vice president of communications products. With this move, Yahoo is trying to get a piece of the hot Internet phone market, which is led by Skype. Skype has captured a global audience of users with its intuitive, low-cost, high-quality service. Making Calls The upgrade to the instant messaging service, called Yahoo Messenger with Voice, lets users dial out from the IM interface to traditional or mobile phones. Yahoo Messenger users are also able to rent one or more phone numbers from Yahoo to receive phone calls through the IM interface. Calls made to phone numbers in the U.S. and 30 other countries with heavy telecommunications traffic will cost 2 cents per minute or less. Calls can also be made to over 150 other countries. Rates vary and are based on the place where the call terminates. For $2.99 per month or $29.90 per year, users are able to obtain one or more phone numbers to receive calls from regular or mobile phones via their Yahoo Messenger interface. Initially, only U.S., U.K., and French numbers are available. Yahoo Messenger with Voice also features a free voice-mail service, and for the first time adds a banner ad in the IM interface that will be "unobtrusive," Garlinghouse said. It uses the Global IP Sound GIPS VoiceEngine technology to process audio. Copyright 2006 PC World Communications, Inc. ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Bored Canadian Bureaucrat Begs For Escape Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 13:48:23 -0600 A bored Canadian bureaucrat fed up with office drudgery is seeking C$1 million ($860,000) in donations so he can quit his job and "do something that makes a difference in my life and the lives of others." The unnamed man, who claims to have worked for a large civil service organization for over 10 years, has set up a Web site -- saveabureaucrat.com -- on which he explains he is desperate to escape his job. "After a while it starts to sap the energy and soul out of you and you realize that you have become a true bureaucrat ... I feel like an old curmudgeon frustrated by having to deal with paper being passed around at a snail's pace," he writes. "Retirement will free up my time for volunteer activities such as tutoring children and counseling people who are going through rough patches in their life. On a daily basis I will be a much more pleasant person to be around," he adds. Despite promising not to spend donations on "Rolls-Royce cars, 10 bedroom houses, airplanes," the bored civil servant has quite a way to go. As of Wednesday morning, five sympathetic souls had sent in a total of just C$59.26. ($1=$1.16 Canadian) Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. ------------------------------ From: Raf Casert Subject: Microsoft Offers Rivals Technical Support Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 13:50:15 -0600 By RAF CASERT, Associated Press Writer Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday offered "free, unlimited technical support" to rivals interested in making their software work with Microsoft servers, saying it wanted to comply with a landmark EU antitrust ruling. "We are committed to doing everything in our power to address the (European) Commission's concerns," Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said in a statement. A spokesman for the EU's antitrust office said the Microsoft offer "seems to be a constructive proposal," but said the company needed to make more efforts to fully fall in line with the EU's 2004 ruling. "Microsoft will naturally be well placed to answer questions from licensees on specific points of the technical documents," EU spokesman Jonathan Todd said. He insisted, however, that even two years after the ruling that forced Microsoft to share technical details with rivals, Microsoft's efforts remained insufficient. "The Commission's preliminary view is that the technical documentation still does not comply with the requirements of the March 2004 decision," he said. The EU has threatened Microsoft with 2 million euros ($2.4 million) in daily fines, backdated to Dec. 15, and said it would make its final decision after Microsoft pleaded its case at a hearing next week. "Microsoft will have the opportunity to explain how this technical support is relevant to the March 2004 decision," Todd said. The EU levied a record 497 million euro ($603 million) fine against Microsoft in March 2004. It also ordered the company to share code with rivals and to offer a version of Windows without the Media Player software. Microsoft is appealing the ruling, and the case will be heard in late April by the European Court of First Instance, the EU's second-highest court. In the meantime, Microsoft said the documentation already made available and Wednesday's offer showed the company's good intentions. "These new documentation projects, together with free and unlimited technical support and access to Windows source code, will ensure that our competitors have all the assistance they need," Smith said. Up to now, Microsoft had offered up to 500 hours of technical support free of charge and upped that to an unlimited amount on Wednesday. "We are committed to taking every possible step to satisfy the Commission's requirements," Smith said. Todd said that, in principle, rivals should be able to make their software compatible with Microsoft servers based on nothing but the technical documentation itself. "Companies trying to compete with Microsoft must be able to have access to usable, workable documentation and should not be forced to rely on help from Microsoft staff," he said. The man appointed to monitor Microsoft's compliance with the EU ruling -- computer science professor Neil Barrett -- has found that although the documentation had improved slightly over the past months, there were still significant gaps in meeting standards. Microsoft said it had devoted over 30,000 hours to developing extensive documentation and said in a statement it "meets or exceeds industry standards." Copyright 2006 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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html ------------------------------ From: Alexander Gelbukh Subject: CFP: MICAI-2006, Artificial Intelligence, Springer LNAI + IEEE CS Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2006 05:56:12 -0600 Organization: MICAI 5th Mexican International Conference on ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MICAI 2006 November 13-17, Mexico; www.MICAI.org/2006 Proceedings: Springer LNAI; poster session: IEEE CS. Submission: June 2 (see webpage). PRELIMINARY CALL FOR PAPERS *** PAPER SUBMISSION *** Papers accepted for oral session will be published by Springer in Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (LNAI). Papers accepted for poster session will be published by IEEE CS Press. Submissions are received via www.MICAI.org/2006; see guidelines there. *** IMPORTANT DATES *** June 2: Submission deadline. July 24 / August 4: Acceptance notification for oral / poster session. August 21 / 25: Camera-ready deadline for oral / poster session. *** TOPICS *** All areas of Artificial Intelligence, see list on the webpage. *** CONTACT *** General inquiries: micai2006 at MICAI dot org. See more contact options on www.MICAI.org/2006. PLEASE CIRCULATE this CFP among your students and colleagues. We apology if you receive this CFP more than once. It is sent in good faith of its interest for you as an AI-related person. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 12:05:02 -0500 From: telecomdirect_daily Subject: TelecomDirect News Daily Update - Wednesday, March 22, 2006 Reply-To: telecomdirect_daily-owner@telecomdirectnews.com ******************************** PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents The TelecomDirect News Daily Update For March 22, 2006 ******************************** EU Urges More Broadband Internet Access http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17195?11228 BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union's executive office called on the governments of member nations to do more to get people online, saying only 13 percent of the union's 450 million people have broadband Internet access. If governments act now to boost investment in high-speed networks in remote and rural areas, all EU citizens... AT&T Dismisses BellSouth Merger Critics http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17191?11228 LAS VEGAS -- Ed Whitacre Jr., the chief executive of AT&T Inc., dismissed critics who say its planned merger with BellSouth Corp. will form a near-monopoly for Internet access and give it the clout to dictate terms to Web sites if they want to remain reachable. At issue is the current principle of 'network neutrality,' under... Vodafone Denies C&W Takeover Rumour http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17190?11228 Vodafone has denied that it is about to launch a takeover bid for Cable & Wireless's (C&W) U.K. business. Reacting to market speculation that it was in talks for a potential bid, a Vodafone spokesman told Dow Jones that 'the company had no intention no intention of owning any fixed-line assets'. Significance: Coming barely a... Locate911 Finds Network VoIP Phones http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/140/17186?11228 A growing number of enterprises are turning to voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems to slash their phone costs. But enhanced phone system management is another reason why organizations may want to consider the technology. A novel product that showcases VoIP's device management possibilities to the hilt is eTelemetry's... Verizon Chief Sees Fast Wireless Broadband Future http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17184?11228 The future of wireless broadband is fiber and the future of fiber is broadband wireless, or at least an increasingly complex mix of the two, said Verizon Communications Chairman Ivan Seidenberg. In keynote remarks late yesterday at TelecomNEXT in Las Vegas, Seidenberg told the telephone company attendees that the future isn't only... Footlose & Cable-Free http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17181?11228 At the Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio director of enterprise services Phil Skinner has a technology group looking into applications for so-called "wireless USB." Beyond replacing messy desktop cables, the group is looking at automatic synchronization between a slew of different devices. "Not just PDAs," notes... Siemens Shuffles Top Deck http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17179?11228 Siemens AG (NYSE: SI - message board; Frankfurt: SIE) announced a major reshuffle of its board today, including a new president for telecom unit Siemens Communications Group , which is currently under the merger and acquisition spotlight. (See Sources: Lucent, Nokia in Play for Siemens and Siemens Changes Board). At Com, president... Juniper Research Reveals VoIP Drivers http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17178?11228 Revenue