TELECOM Digest     Tue, 27 Feb 2007 01:14:00 EST    Volume 26 : Issue 58

Inside This Issue:                            Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Third of US Surfers Have Tried Wireless (Reuters News Wire)
    Think Your Social Security Number Is Secure? Think Again (Monty Solomon)
    Telecoms to Fight Patrick Tax Proposal (Monty Solomon)
    Palm Daylight Saving Time Updates (Monty Solomon)
    BBS: The Documentary (AnonGoo)
    CommunicationsDirect News Daily Update (communicationsdirect_daily)
    Ericsson Offers $1.4 Billion Bid for Tandberg (USTelecom dailyLead)
    Re: Virtual Strip Searches Begun at Phoenix Airport (Sam Spade)
    Re: Telephone Area Codes and Prefixes (Ron Kritzman)
    Re: Morton Grove, Illinois (was Party Line Dialing) (Joseph Pine)

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

Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 23:34:33 -0600
From: Reuters News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: Third of US Surfers Have Tried Wireless


One-third of U.S. Internet users have connected to the Web using a
wireless network to send e-mails, check the latest news or read other
things, according to a survey released on Sunday by the Pew Internet
Project.

The survey also found that 20 percent of Internet users now have
wireless networks available at home, double the number recorded in
January 2005.

"We know that 'always on' broadband connections really deepen people's
relationship to the Internet; adding 'on the go' to the mix takes this
a step further," said John Horrigan, associate research director at
the Pew Internet Project.

"The convenience of wireless access gives people the chance to fire
off a quick e-mail to someone while waiting in a doctor's office or
check the news headlines on the way to work."

Some 34 percent of Internet users surveyed said they have logged on to
the Web using a laptop computer, hand-held personal digital assistant
or cell phone.

The survey of 798 Internet users has a margin of error of plus or
minus 3.8 percentage points. Detailed results were posted on the Web
at http://www.pewinternet.org.

Copyright 2007 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 and headlines, please go to:
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html

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

Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 00:35:10 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Think Your Social Security Number Is Secure? Think Again


By DAMON DARLIN
The New York Times
February 24, 2007

It should come as little surprise that Social Security numbers are
posted on the Internet. But, says Betty Ostergren, a former insurance
claims supervisor in suburban Richmond, Va., who has spent years
trolling for them, "people are always astounded" to learn that theirs
is one of them.

Mrs. Ostergren, 57, has made a name for herself as a gadfly as she
took on a lonely and sometimes frustrating mission to draw attention
to the situation. With addresses, dates of birth and maiden names
often associated with Social Security numbers, she said, they are a
gift to data thieves.

But in the last few weeks, Mrs. Ostergren's Web site, The Virginia
Watchdog -- with the help of lobbying from an unexpected ally,
America's farm bureaus -- is having an effect.

One by one, states and counties have started removing images of 
documents that contain Social Security numbers, or they are blocking 
out the numbers. Four states, including New York, have removed links 
to images of public documents containing Social Security numbers.

Snohomish County, Wash., for example, said Wednesday that 61 types of
documents, including tax liens and marriage certificates, would be
blocked. (The documents are supposed to remain public at courthouses
or state offices.)

On Wednesday, the Texas attorney general, Greg Abbott, issued a legal
opinion that county clerks could be committing a crime by revealing
Social Security numbers on the Internet.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/24/business/24money.html?ex=1329973200&en=3a82da1eb14df57c&ei=5090

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

Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 01:01:44 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Telecoms to fight Patrick tax proposal


By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff  |  February 24, 2007

Chronic bitter enemies -- cable television and telephone companies --
yesterday found something they could agree on: Both industries hate
Governor Deval L. Patrick's plans to hit them with an estimated $78
million in new local property taxes as part of Patrick's crackdown on
alleged corporate tax loopholes.

Telecom companies and industry trade groups are gearing up to try to
block Patrick's proposal to repeal a state law dating to 1915 that
exempts telecommunications companies from paying local taxes on their
poles, wires, and other network equipment placed along municipal
streets.

Patrick said it made no sense that in some municipalities electric
companies pay local taxes on wires and gear that are installed on the
same telephone poles as telecom equipment. In communities where
Verizon Communications Inc. jointly owns poles with either NStar or
National Grid Group PLC, the electric company pays tax on its half of
the pole, but Verizon doesn't.

http://www.boston.com/business/taxes/articles/2007/02/24/telecoms_to_fight_patrick_tax_proposal/

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

Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 02:13:56 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Palm Daylight Saving Time Updates


http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/dst.html

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

From: AnonGoo <christopherz.lee@gmail.com>
Subject: BBS: The Documentary
Date: 26 Feb 2007 06:30:03 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


Yeah! A retro of old skool 80s geek out there at
http://geekvideo.blogspot.com/2007/02/bbs-documentary.html

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

Subject: CommunicationsDirect News Daily Update - February 26, 2007
From: communicationsdirect_daily <communications@communicationsdirectnews.com>
Reply-To: communicationsdirect_daily-owner@communicationsdirectnews.com
Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 11:33:37 EST


********************************
PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents
The CommunicationsDirect Daily Update
For February 26, 2007
********************************

This week's poll: How do you rate customer service from your current
mobile provider? Visit our web site to vote and see the results of
last week's poll.

Skype Petitions FCC for Access to Mobiles
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/130/22921?11228

     VoIP provider Skype, backed up by Columbia University's Tim Wu,
     who published a report on anti-competitive practices by the
     mobile industry, has petitioned the FCC to invoke the 1968
     Carterphone ruling for mobile networks. This ruling mandated that
     AT&T permit consumers to attach any device that did not damage
     the network to be ...

Regulator Outlines Plans for MVNOs in Portugal
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/140/22918?11228

     The Portuguese telecoms regulator, Anacom, has outlined the
     regulatory framework for MVNOs wishing to set up shop in
     Portugal. Noting that it was yet to identify formally mobile
     operators with significant market power in Portugal, Anacom
     observed that existing mobile operators are not under any
     regulatory obligation to provide third ...

Swisscom to Begin WiMAX Trials in April 2007
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/140/22915?11228

     Swisscom has announced plans to commence a WiMAX field trial in
     the Swiss city of Boltigen from April 2007. In a statement,
     Swisscom said that this will be the first time it will test the
     new technology since receiving its Broadband Wireless Access
     (BWA) licence in 2006.  The company will install WiMAX in around
     30 households.  ...

Defending Streaming Media
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/150/22911?11228

     VoIP and other types of streaming media are open invitations to
     hackers intent on stealing data or causing various types of
     digital mayhem. Phoenix-based Live Square is targeting media
     security gaps with new software that aims to secure all types of
     audio and video streaming against piracy threats. Live Square's
     Streaming Media ...

EU Launches Lawsuit Against Germany Over Attempt to Keep Rivals Off Deutsch=
e Telekom's Broadband Network
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/130/22908?11228

     BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Commission said Monday it had
     launched a lawsuit against Germany over a law allowing Deutsche
     Telekom AG to keep rivals off its high-speed Internet networks.
     EU spokesman Martin Selmayr told reporters that a letter of
     formal notice was sent to Berlin after it ignored ...

New Voicemail App Copies Wireless Messages To PCs
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/150/22901?11228

     Earlier this month, Calif.-based CallWave Inc. rolled out a
     portfolio of market-tested, next-generation visual voicemail
     solutions, and one of the first takers is Hawaiian Telcom. "We're
     helping the carrier community think outside the phone with proven
     desktop applications that allow end users to select, play and
     respond to ...

Ericsson Targets Cable Revenues
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/120/22898?11228

     A successful acquisition of Tandberg Television would give
     Ericsson AB a coveted position in the cable operator equipment
     market, the Swedish vendor's CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg told a
     press conference Monday morning. Owning Tandberg TV would also
     give Ericsson in-house competence in TV delivery technology and a
     ...

Last Week's Funding Roundup
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/120/22895?11228

     WiMax silicon and mobile email startups plumb the deep pockets of
     the wireless VC community this week in our regular funding
     roundup.  Sequans Communications : The funding market is still
     hot for WiMax chip startups, especially those working on mobile
     broadband systems.  This week Alcatel-Lucent made an undisclosed
     investment in ...

Qualcomm, Broadcom Dismiss Two Claims
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/130/22893?11228

     Qualcomm and Broadcom have agreed to dismiss with prejudice all
     claims and counterclaims associated with two patents belonging to
     Broadcom and two patents belonging to Qualcomm.  The agreement
     results in the dismissal of San Diego Federal Court Case No. 05
     CV 1662 involving Broadcom&#39;s claims for infringement of the
     two ...

CommunicationsDirect Editor <telecom_direct_editor@us.pwc.com
Copyright (C) 2007 PricewaterhouseCoopers.

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

Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:31:53 CST
From: USTelecom dailyLead <ustelecom@dailylead.com>
Subject: Ericsson Offers $1.4 Billion Bid For Tandberg


USTelecom dailyLead
February 26, 2007
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/gmuYfDtusXmEvcCibuddjHTs

TODAY'S HEADLINES


NEWS OF THE DAY
* Ericsson offers $1.4 billion bid for Tandberg
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* AT&T plans to ramp up U-verse rollouts
* CBS to syndicate Showtime programs
* T-Mobile to focus on U.S., EU
* Google making moves as video-content syndicator
* Hollywood embraces BitTorrent
* Finding a bigger bang for ads key for industry
HOT TOPICS
* AT&T sells BellSouth spectrum
* Microsoft ordered to pay $1.52 billion to Alcatel-Lucent
* Apple, Cisco reach terms over iPhone name
* Alltel may attract several suitors, analysts say
* A guide to IMS
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
* VoIP over Wi-Fi market on pace to top $82 billion
* Businesses take do-it-yourself approach to convergence
* NHL to offer live games via broadband
* Survey says one-third of Net users on wireless

Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others.
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/gmuYfDtusXmEvcCibuddjHTs

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

From: Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com>
Subject: Re: Virtual Strip Searches Begun at Phoenix Airport
Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 18:15:10 -0800
Organization: Cox


Terry Tang wrote:

> "It's 100 percent voluntary, so if the passenger doesn't feel
> comfortable with it, the passenger doesn't have to go through it," TSA
> spokesman Nico Melendez said.

Oh, sure, just go to jail instead.

> The security officer who works with the passenger going through the
> screening will never see the images the machine produces. The pictures
> will be viewed by another officer about 50 feet away who will not see
> the passenger, the TSA said.

I find it difficult to accept that those folks will follow a protocol 
like that.

> The machine cannot store the images or transmit them.

> "Once we're done screening the passenger, the image is gone forever,"
> Melendez said. 

You gotta know they can screw with it.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Of course they can, and of course they
will. Big Brother comes just a few steps closer. And, in some
countries in Europe, 'Secondary Inspections' have already gotten
underway if some recent internet porn is to be believed. You know, the
old 'secret hidden camera' routine and all that.  PAT]

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

Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 11:55:48 -0600
From: Ron Kritzman <ron@dbOnayAmspaYmasters.com>
Subject: Re: Telephone Area Codes and Prefixes


BobGoudreau@notchur.biz wrote:

> The other cool thing about that number is that it is of course the lowest
> (generally-dialable) phone number in the entire world!

> Fully qualified, it is +1 201 200 0000....

In the telephony world 0 is a ten not a null, so wouldn't that be a
pretty high number?

Emoveray ethay Igpay Atinlay otay eplyray


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think that all depends; if you are
dial pulsing the number it is a 'ten'. Exactly how it is translated
if being 'tone dialed' is not known to me. Is it still considered a
'ten'. In that case, are the '*' and '#' keys considered eleven and
twelve when dialed?  PAT]

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

From: Joseph Pine <notme@notme.edu>
Subject: Re: Morton Grove, Illinois (was Party Line Dialing)
Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 02:22:07 GMT
Organization: AT&T Worldnet

So Pat, why did you call it Moron Grove?
I enjoy some of your reminiscences about the Chicago area, being a lifelong
resident. I lived in Morton Grove for the better part of the 90's, when,
from reading this group, I think you worked at the Skokie Swift station. I
used to take the bus from my job in Evanston, which dropped off at the
station, and may have seen you in there. (This was before I got interested
in telecom and got into that Internet thingy.)

> Since that point in time, Skokie has grown by leaps and bounds
> between Church Street (formerly north end) and Golf Road (new north
> end) and going west to the edge of the village of Morton Grove --
> which we sometimes call MORON Grove; remind me, I will tell you why
> sometime --


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: When I lived in the area (or, as
Mr. McClain phrased it, 'Skokie was my stomping ground') I did NOT
work for 'Skokie Swift' nor did I work at the 'Skokie Swift Station'.
I was employed at the time by the Skokie Greyhound Agency, then I went
on to take over the operation of the Agency, selling bus tickets
anywhere, but primarily between Chicago <-> Milwaukee, the line we
were on. I rented space from Chicago Transit Authority for the bus
station.  Chicago Transit Authority is a *slumlord*, first class. They
do not maintain nor take care of their property. The entire building
was a total shambles, and they would not spend the money needed to put
in heat or water other than the antiquated units which were there, nor
would they allow _me_ to spend the money and deduct from the rent. We
had frequent ceiling leaks and similar. I asked CTA to pay me to allow
_their_ bus passengers to wait in my little run-down shack while
waiting for the CTA bus they were taking; I asked RTA the same thing;
the answer from both of them was 'we are not going to pay for our
passengers to have a warm place to stand or sit; if you do not like
having them around, then lock them out of your place.' So basically,
the only thing I got money for was revenue from Greyhound ticket
sales; and not a lot of that. When I tried locking out the CTA/RTA
passengers, that got me a lot of grief from those passengers who
wanted to use _my_ private bathroom (there are no public facilities
anywhere at Skokie Swift, CTA does not believe in that; only a very
small, very unsanitary place for 'employees only') or in the winter
track mud all over the floor.  In order to have _some_ modicum of
facilities for Greyhound passengers to use. i.e. vending machines for
food, public telephones and a clean, sanitary restroom, I had to allow
the CTA passengers in to use the facilities also, but _they_ (CTA/RTA
passengers) were always the ones complaining the most and no one was
paying me _anything_ for their upkeep; or to clean up after them; CTA
refused to do so, and RTA is just part of the CTA anyway. Finally, I
managed to get the Skokie building inspectors on CTA's case, got a
report from building inspector showing in excruciating detail the
extent of repairs CTA would have to make to their property to make it
habitable for any sort of business (like my Greyhound Agency) to
operate therein; getting the building inspectors involved _really_
brought the CTA bureauacracy down on me pretty hard. Thereafter, the 
Chicago Transit Authority would repeatedly hassle me about my rent
money and make things even more miserable. But _finally_ they started
making repairs and sprucing up the place a little. 

About the _MORON_ Grove police department. In 1985 or thereabouts,
they managed to get a city ordinance passed -- purely city, mind you
 -- banning the private ownership of any handguns within their
village. Forget about the Second Amendment and all that rot; that did
not matter at all to them. They put up a sign on Dempster Street where
Dempster goes into Moron Grove warning everyone that all were subject
to search and seizure for handguns; now I do not own any form of gun;
truth be told, weapons of any sort frighten me a lot; but what scares
me a lot more is the blaise way the village fathers were doing away 
with guns, just on the say-so of their police department, and their
neighbors to the east, Evanston and Skokie who also supported the
anti-gun initiative. Moron Grove police were very corrupted anyway,
(as are Skokie and Evanston police) and I just did not get along very
well at all in that part of the world. PAT] 

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


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End of TELECOM Digest V26 #58
******************************