TELECOM Digest     Sun, 21 Jan 2007 02:47:00 EST    Volume 26 : Issue 21

Inside This Issue:                            Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Vista: Worthy, Largely Unexciting (Monty Solomon)
    IPsec, a Tutorial (Monty Solomon)
    Don't Call. Don't Write. Let Me Be (Monty Solomon)
    Once Given Up for Dead, Comcast Defies Its Obits (Monty Solomon)
    Is Your Telephone AC Power Dependent? (Thomas D. Horne, FF EMT)
    Re: Hell Continues to Freeze Over (T)
    Re: Hell Continues to Freeze Over (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com)
    Re: NY Times Plans Major Job Cutback (RJ)
    Re: XM and Sirius Consider Merger (Neal McLain)

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Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2007 18:40:57 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Vista: Worthy, Largely Unexciting


BY WALTER S. MOSSBERG

A new version of Microsoft Windows, the world's most popular and
important computer operating system, will finally arrive for consumers
on Jan. 30. It has taken the giant software maker more than five years
to replace Windows XP with this new version, called Windows Vista --
an eternity by computer-industry reckoning. Many of the boldest plans
for Vista were discarded in that lengthy process, and what's left is a
worthy, but largely unexciting, product.

Vista is much prettier than previous versions of Windows. Its icons
look better, windows have translucent borders, and items in the
taskbar and in folders can display little previews of what they
contain. Security is supposedly vastly better; there are some new
free, included programs; and fast, universal search is now built in.
There are hundreds of other, smaller, improvements and additions
throughout the system, including parental controls and even a slicker
version of Solitaire.

After months of testing Vista on multiple computers, new and old, I
believe it is the best version of Windows that Microsoft has
produced. However, while navigation has been improved, Vista isn't a
breakthrough in ease of use. Overall, it works pretty much the same
way as Windows XP. Windows hasn't been given nearly as radical an
overhaul as Microsoft just applied to its other big product, Office.

Nearly all of the major, visible new features in Vista are already
available in Apple's operating system, called Mac OS X, which came out
in 2001 and received its last major upgrade in 2005. And Apple is
about to leap ahead again with a new version of OS X, called Leopard,
due this spring.

There are some big downsides to this new version of Windows. To get
the full benefits of Vista, especially the new look and user
interface, which is called Aero, you will need a hefty new computer,
or a hefty one that you purchased fairly recently. The vast majority
of existing Windows PCs won't be able to use all of Vista's features
without major hardware upgrades. They will be able to run only a
stripped-down version, and even then may run very slowly.

In fact, in my tests, some elements of Vista could be maddeningly slow
even on new, well-configured computers.

Also, despite Vista's claimed security improvements, you will still
have to run, and keep updating, security programs, which can be
annoying and burdensome. Microsoft has thrown in one such program
free, but you will have to buy at least one more. That means that,
while Vista has eased some of the burden on users imposed by the
Windows security crisis, it will still force you to spend more time
managing the computer than I believe people should have to devote.

Here's a quick guide to the highlights of the new operating system.

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20070118.html

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2007 22:41:29 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: IPsec, a Tutorial


http://networksystemsdesignline.com/howto/ipnetworking/196602552 
http://networksystemsdesignline.com/howto/ipnetworking/196602908 
http://networksystemsdesignline.com/howto/ipnetworking/196603297 
http://networksystemsdesignline.com/howto/ipnetworking/196700736
http://networksystemsdesignline.com/howto/ipnetworking/196701975 
http://networksystemsdesignline.com/howto/ipnetworking/196702424 
http://networksystemsdesignline.com/howto/ipnetworking/196800253 
http://networksystemsdesignline.com/howto/ipnetworking/196801292
http://networksystemsdesignline.com/howto/ipnetworking/196801869
http://networksystemsdesignline.com/howto/ipnetworking/196802445
http://networksystemsdesignline.com/howto/ipnetworking/196900814

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2007 00:34:22 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Don't Call. Don't Write. Let Me Be.


YOUR MONEY
Don't Call. Don't Write. Let Me Be.

By DAMON DARLIN

The fears of the direct marketing industry came true. Once a
do-not-call list was created, people did register, in droves.

The list was created in 2003, not as a way to protect privacy, but to 
remove a powerful irritant from the lives of Americans. The Federal 
Trade Commission, which administers the list, says that more than 137 
million phone numbers have been placed on the list by people tired of 
interruptions during dinner or their favorite TV show.

The popularity of the do-not-call list unleashed a demand for other
opt-out lists. A consumer can now opt out of the standard practice of
their banks or loan companies selling their information to others.
Other opt-outs stop credit card companies from soliciting consumers or
end the flow of junk mail and catalogs.

While most of the opt-outs are intended to make life less annoying, 
they can also have the side effect of protecting personal information 
that can be misused by identity thieves or unscrupulous merchants.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/20/business/20money.html?ex=1326949200&en=3efc9e8515a9ea4a&ei=5090

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2007 01:12:19 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Once Given Up for Dead, Comcast Defies Its Obits


By GERALDINE FABRIKANT

THREE years ago, with the cable television industry in the doldrums,
the Comcast Corporation's chairman, Brian L. Roberts, approached Mel
Karmazin, then the president of Viacom, with a modest proposal: give
Comcast the right to show programming from such Viacom properties as
CBS and MTV on the cable company's channels so it could have a leg up
on its rivals.

Mr. Roberts was accompanied by one of his senior managers and he
vividly recalls Mr. Karmazin's reaction. "He scrunched up his eyes,
looked at us and said, 'So you want us to give you all this stuff for
free and people will use it on video?' " Mr. Roberts recalled with a
laugh. "And we said, 'Yes, that's what we want.'

"No, no, no. Let me tell you want I would like to do," Mr. Karmazin
responded. "I would like to put my head down on the desk, close my
eyes, and when I count to 10 and look up, I want you both out of my
office."

Mr. Karmazin, who now runs Sirius Satellite Radio, confirmed the
story. "We were a content company with valuable content, and every
opportunity we had to charge for my content, I would do it," he said.
"It was not in my DNA to give away valuable content for free."

Even today, Mr. Roberts recalls Mr. Karmazin's reaction as typical of
those misguided souls who fail to realize that consumers increasingly
have the ability to record and watch programs where and when they
want. "A person who wants to watch 'CSI' or 'Desperate Housewives'
when the programs are not on, they are going to do it anyway," he
observed. "As a content owner, you should want them to watch your
show."

Brian Roberts has always conducted himself thus - with a
straightforward, plain-spoken, that's-the-way-the-world-works approach
to his company, his customers and his competitors. Those qualities
have stood Comcast in good stead as it emerges from a gloomy period in
which (even though it was making scads of money, thank you) some
analysts had written it off as a moribund, wire-bound behemoth doomed
to be eclipsed by more nimble telecommunications concerns.

Today, the entire cable business, and Comcast, the country's largest
cable company, are sitting pretty. Amid the scramble that will decide
which companies provide consumers with the flood of new media,
entertainment and communications services, cable suddenly looks to be
the winner. Analysts now say cable operators are better positioned
than their rivals. Until quite recently, however, that wasn't a
foregone conclusion because Wall Street - even discounting the myopia
that often distorts its vision - had good cause to be pessimistic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/business/yourmoney/21comcast.html?ex=1327035600&en=fec526072daf064f&ei=5090

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2007 17:04:31 -0500
From: Thomas D. Horne, FF EMT <hornetd@mindspring.com>
Subject: Is Your Telephone AC Power Dependent?


Pat,

I don't mean to be insulting with this question so if it is
too obvious please forgive me.  Is at least one telephone line
into your home exchange powered copper twisted pair?  Do you
have a cell phone in case your line goes down?  

-- Tom Horne


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have a small PBX-type thing.  Two
'incoming'/'outgoing' lines.  Dial three digits (100-through 105) to
get the various rooms in my house. The 0 operator is aliased to
extension 100.

Dial 9  to get a 'regular' battery-powered CO line on 620-331  from 
Sage Telecom (which replaced the late, great Prairie Stream
Communmications).

Dial 8 to get a Vonage VOIP line (620-402-0134).

Dial 70-0 to pick up an incoming call on either outside line, both
of which have a 'common audible' bell which is mounted on the wall
nearby the unit. All incoming calls default to ringing on extension
100 which aliases to extension 0 (or operator).

Dial 108 or 109 to park either or both incoming lines in a 'holding
queue', then pick the call back up from another extension such as
my office or bedroom by redialing 108 or 109. 

I have a Cingular cell phone with its own battery of course, and I
can also charge it via a 'Cell Socket' device which ties into
extension 102 on the PBX. That is to say, I can from any internal
phone dial extension 102 and get access to the Cingular phone if it
is in the cell socket device. 

The 'PBX-type thing' is powered from AC. There is a central office
bypass socket on the unit which brings either outside line direct to
a phone instrument plugged into it. From that bypass (of the PBX) I
have a caller-ID plugged in and whatever else. 

In the event power is out, the first line (Sage, telco landline) feeds
into the bypass switch.  The second line, (the VOIP could be plugged in
there, but no matter since the computer is _mostly_ dead.) If the
second line was an actual telco line as well, then I would have it
there also, since the voltage from the ringing phone toggles the
bypass to one side or the other where it would remain until a call on
the other line toggled it back. 

The VOIP line is mainly powered by the computer's electricity, but I
do have a small 'battery backup' on my system, mainly to allow for an
orderly shut down of the system as needed. In the process of 'shutting
down' due to power failure, I _could_ make a call through that battery
backup over the computer/VOIP line, and I assume I could unplug
everything but the router and that one computer and stretch out the
battery life a few more minutes.

What I really need to get is a slightly bigger battery backup to
allow me to continue using my one lamp a bit longer, and a crank
radio to allow me to play my radio even when power was out for awhile.
Have you seen those? Crank the radio a half dozen times or so and it
allows the radio to play for about an hour on that cranking. I also
have a (seldom used) CB radio which would work from the battery backup
or the crank (if I had one) for a short time. Of course, it would not
help with the refrigerator or the furnace fan, but I do have logs
for my fireplace as needed.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: T <nospam.kd1s@cox.nospam.net>
Subject: Re: Hell Continues to Freeze Over
Organization: The Ace Tomato and Cement Company
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2007 18:04:30 -0500


In article <telecom26.20.8@telecom-digest.org>, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com 
says:

> Patrick Townson wrote:

>> I mentioned here about a week ago that Hell, here in Independence, KS
>> had frozen over with the ice storms of last weekend. Now here we are,
>> a full week later, ice still over everything in sight...

> Good luck with everything.  I'm glad you still have power and phone
> service and food deliveries.

> When I was a kid we had an ice storm like that, everything covered in a
> thick coating of extremely slippery but hard ice.  It was horrible.  In
> those days many autos used tire chains actually which were pretty
> effective, but murder if you got on dry pavement, and a pain to put on
> and off.  Links would break and bang around.

There's something similar for those of us who like to walk no matter
what the weather. I bought a pair of Yaktrax Pro shoe covers two years
ago and haven't gotten a chance to use them yet.

They snap over the bottom of your shoe and present a rubber matrix
surrounded by steel coil to the ice, essentially increasing the
pressure on each point. The USPS uses these in locations that get a
lot of snow and ice and the study says it's eliminated slips and
falls.

Just a suggestion as I know broken bones don't heal as fast when one 
gets older. 


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder where I could buy one of those
devices for my shoes?  Maybe next time I happen to go past Walmart I
might (as I sniff and point my nose in the air) walk in the place and
look to see if they have them.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: Hell Continues to Freeze Over
Date: 20 Jan 2007 18:43:47 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Lisa Hancock:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This may sound like a bizarre,
> diabolical question, but did you ever wonder how the custodian (of
> the school) ever got there _in the first place_ to spread the ashes
> around?

That's easy.  At times like that the custodian would spend the night in
the building.  He had a room fixed up for that purpose.

> I am barely old enough -- at my ancient age -- to
> recall when the boiler at our school converted from coal to gas

My school was built in 1948, late for coal, but there was some sort of
deal with the coal miners.  People converted to oil or gas rapidly
after the war.  My mother told me growing up with coal heat was
utterly miserable.  It was warm, but a big mess to take care of and
very dirty and smelly.  Her family thought switching to oil was the
greatest invention ever.

> And thanks for thinking about my food. My food supply is okay for
> another week; its the dog and cats' supply I am worried about. They
> have only a couple more day's worth unless I start rationing it out;
> I should put them on a diet anyway. All too big and fat (and sassy!).

My 90 year old neighbor decided he shouldn't drive anymore.
Unfortunately, around here that makes getting food and stuff difficult.

There's a convenience store about six blocks away, but it's a bit of a
walk in bad weather or for an older person.  In the city there were
stores often closer by, although the old small groceries are gone,
replaced by chains.  But in the city there are people who provide a
private taxi service for a modest fee, my mother found that very
helpful.  Doesn't exist out here.

With the U.S. population aging and now in suburbia, there's gonna be a
real challenge on getting people around.  In the city there are buses
and drivers, in the suburbs, zilch.  We live in a totally car oriented
world now and for many people who physically can't drive that's equal
to prison.  There's been some horrid accidents by such drivers who had
no choice but to drive.  But the car advocates always win out.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There is a small convenience store five
blocks north of me on Main and Fourth Street. (A Dollar General
place). They sell animal food, soda pop, potato chips, etc and if my
motorized chair arrives sometime this week I will be able to get by
I am sure. But if it does not arrive, there is still the taxicab.

Although taxicab rides here are a flat rate of $4.00 for anywhere in
town, City of Independence offers a subsidized program for old people
and/or sick, feeble people like myself. I pay $2.00 per ride anywhere
and city pays the other $2.00. I give the driver (a nice young man
named Chad or his grandmother (the other driver) my two dollars and a
coupon for each ride. Although most everything here is solid ice these
days, my back porch is covered (no snow underneath it) and when I call
Chad or grandma on the phone to come and pick me up, they drive about
_thisclose_ to the fence on that side so I can open the gate (and
hopefully close it before the dog gets away) while leaning on the
fence, then with a step or two I lean on the cab and open the
door. But the dog is smart -- a lot smarter than me, I think -- and
he is there lurking to run off when the gate is open. But the dog is
leary of my metal cane, and when I shake it at him and make a growling
noise he usually backs up and lets me get out. I'll use Independence
Cab to get to the store this week if my 'Scooter Store' chair does not
arrive in time. Chad is such a nice kid; usually if I go to Marvins or
a bigger store downtown he helps me load my groceries in the trunk of
the cab and when we get back home he hauls them in the house for me. 
PAT] 

------------------------------

From: RJ <rj_nospam@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: NY Times Plans Major Job Cutback
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2007 18:34:49 -0500


On 20 Jan 2007 11:09:57 -0800, editor@photostaats.com wrote:

> ... Yes, but out here in Phoenix, even the regional edition is better
> than the Arizona Republic, which I find to be poorly designed, poorly
> edited, with virtually no editorial oversight with regards to
> accuracy, and a "moving bias" that fits whatever the "cause du jour"
> might be.

Unfortunately the accuracy standards of the NY Times have slipped.

RJ

------------------------------

From: Neal McLain <nmclain@annsgarden.com>
Subject: Re: XM and Sirius Consider Merger
Reply-To: nmclain@annsgarden.com
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2007 23:01:22 -0500


Quoting Space News Staff Writer Peter B. de Selding, I wrote:

> PARIS -- The two big U.S. satellite-radio companies, 
> XM and Sirius ... agree that a merger would result in
> substantial cost savings and might even pass muster
> with U.S. regulators.

Klay Anderson <klay@klay.com.remove> wrote:

> Yeah, but the FCC Chairman Kevin Martin says not according
> to US laws...

Jim Haynes <haynes@alumni.uark.edu> wrote: 

> I can understand how a merger of the two companies results in a
> monopoly, and will probably result in higher charges and less
> consumer choice. Yet what if only one company had entered the market
> in the first place? Would the FCC have demanded that they go out and
> find a competitor before allowing them a license?

Actually, four companies participated in the auction for the two
satellite DARS (digital audio radio service) licenses.  Each winning
bidder got half of the available spectrum, or 12.5 MHz.

The bidders:
- American Mobile Radio Corporation (XM) won with a bid of $89,888,888.
- Digital Satellite Broadcasting Corp. dropped out of the auction.
- Primosphere dropped out of the auction.
- Satellite CD Radio, Inc. (Sirius) won with a bid of $83,346,000.

My guess is that if only one company had entered the market, the FCC
wouldn't have issued any DARS licenses.  Among other reasons, the fact
that several potential licensees petitioned the FCC for DARS licenses
led the FCC to allocate the spectrum space in the first place.

Parenthetically, if  XM and Sirius  do merge, I'm curious  about which
satellite fleet they'll use.  Their current fleets are not compatible:
XM uses two satellites in geostationary orbit, while Sirius uses three
satellites in Molniya orbit.

References:
- FindLaw Library: Satellite DARS Auction to Commence
http://library.findlaw.com/1997/Mar/1/129996.html
- FCC: Auction 15: Digital Audio Radio Service (DARS)
http://tinyurl.com/2gpf9d
- Geostationary orbit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geostationary
http://www.sbe24.org/techdocs/Geosat/satgeomt.asp
- Molniya orbit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molniya_orbit
http://www.heavens-above.com/orbitdisplay.asp?satid=26626

Neal McLain

------------------------------


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End of TELECOM Digest V26 #21
*****************************