For your convenience in reading: Subject lines are printed in RED and
Moderator replies when issued appear in BROWN.
Previous Issue (just one)
TD Extra News
For your convenience in reading: Subject lines are printed in RED and
Moderator replies when issued appear in BROWN.
Previous Issue (just one)
TD Extra News
TELECOM Digest Wed, 6 Apr 2005 13:36:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 147
Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson
Amazon.com Plans Plant Facility Expansion in s.e. Kansas (P.Townson)
Microsoft Aids Florida Anti-Spam Lawsuits (Lisa Minter)
Google Adding Personal Video to Search Repertoire (Lisa Minter)
Hackers Add Web, Chat to PSP Video Game Player (Lisa Minter)
China's Tomb-Sweeping Day Joins Internet Age (Lisa Minter)
New Heights For In-Flight Internet (Marcus Didius Falco)
Verizon Brings VoiceWing Internet-Based Calling to Mass. (Monty Solomon)
Maine Joins Fight to Keep Pay Phones (Monty Solomon)
Re: USB to RJ-45 Console Cable? (James Carlson)
Re: Can Somebody Please Explain CSD to Me? (Koos van den Hout)
Re: Wired: Word From on High: Jam Cell Calls (jtaylor)
Re: Wired: Word From on High: Jam Cell Calls (Thor Lancelot Simon)
Re: The Real Reason Why SBC Won't Work With Vonage E-911 (Lisa Hancock)
Re: The Real Reason Why SBC Won't Work With Vonage E-911 (Steve Sobol)
Re: Google Maps (AES)
Re: Classic Telephone Call on PC (Gerhard Nowack)
So ... What's an E-mail Address Worth to a Spammer? (Danny Burstein)
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: 06 Apr 2005 11:00:00 CDT
From: Telecom Digest Editor <ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu>
Subject: Amazon.com Plans Plant Facility Expansion in s.e. Kansas
(Excerpts from the Independence Reporter and Coffeyville Journal).
On Monday, managers of the Amazon.com distribution facility in
Independence/Coffeyville were given approval by the Montgomery
County Commissioners in their regular meeting to expand their
facilty. County Commissioners reviewed the plans presented by
Amazon.com and gave the required approvals.
The company plans to begin the expansion in early May in order
to accomodate its planned expansion in its line of products sold
over the Internet. Amazon estimates the number of new jobs to
be created as a result of the expansion is 20; however they said
that might be a conservative estimate. Last year's plant expansion
resulted in 94 new jobs. Amazon employs 430 people full time, but
during the holiday season has expanded to 1500 people. The company
noted the volume of merchadise shipped each day out of Coffeyville
is the highest it has ever been.
The 'Coffeyville Industrial Park' -- Amazon's base of operations --
is located mid-way between Independence and Coffeyville.
Patrick Townson
------------------------------
Date: 05 Apr 2005 22:55:59 -0700
From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Microsoft Aids Florida Anti-Spam Lawsuits
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. said on Monday it has aided
Florida's attorney general in anti-spam lawsuits against two Tampa
residents, who the state says are responsible for sending tens of
thousands of spam messages.
Microsoft, which has been engaged in a three-year fight against virus
writers, hackers, spammers and Internet scam artists, said in a
statement that Scott Filary and Donald Townsend of Tampa, Florida,
were responsible for "running a bogus e-mail and Internet operation
responsible for sending more than 65,000 illegal spam messages during
the past year."
Filary and Townsend could not immediately be reached for comment.
Florida's top prosecutor, Charlie Crist, said the investigation
against the two was conducted with Microsoft's help.
Microsoft says spam, or unsolicited email advertisements touting
everything from home refinancing to miracle health cures, could hurt
users of its Windows operating system, which runs more than 90 percent
of the world's personal computers.
Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.
NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily
media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra . Hundreds of new articles daily.
*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without
profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the
understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic
issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I
believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish
to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go
beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright
owner, in this instance, Reuters Limited.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
------------------------------
Date: 05 Apr 2005 22:57:05 -0700
From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Google Adding Personal Video to Search Repertoire
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc. plans to put out a call for
personal video clips as it moves to further expand the reach of its
Web search business, company co-founder Larry Page said on Monday.
"We're going to start taking video submissions from people," Page said
at the annual cable industry convention in San Francisco.
Google in January rolled out the test version of its video search
service that allows users to find content in television programs from
such providers as Fox News, the NBA and PBS.
The service, called Google Video, allows users to see still images
from the video clips and associated closed-captioning.
Google has search relationships with numerous content and broadband
providers and hopes to extend those into new areas. For example,
cable company Comcast Corp. uses Google search on its site and also
creates its own content.
"We're always looking for ways to expand partnerships," Google
co-founder Sergey Brin said.
The company on Monday also said it would provide data about popular
Web searches to Current, a new television network for the 18- to
34-year-old audience that is backed by former U.S. Vice President Al
Gore and other investors.
Google's main rival Yahoo Inc. led by former Hollywood studio
executive Terry Semel, has made a big move into entertainment and
already has struck exclusive content deals with "Survivor" creator
Mark Burnett and JibJab Media, a producer of short animated films.
Google's Brin said investors should not take the company's recent
steps as a cue that it, too, is making similar moves into
entertainment.
"Entertainment is one of the applications (of search). It is one of
the kinds of information you can find -- it's just one," Brin said.
Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.
NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily
media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra . Hundreds of new articles daily.
*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without
profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the
understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic
issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I
believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish
to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go
beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright
owner, in this instance, Reuters Limited.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
------------------------------
Date: 05 Apr 2005 22:58:34 -0700
From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Hackers Add Web, Chat to PSP Video Game Player
By Ben Berkowitz
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sony Corp new PlayStation Portable is turning
into a great tool for Web browsing, comics reading and online chat --
and it also happens to play video games, movies and music, if you
prefer that sort of thing.
The $249 PSP handheld video game player went on sale in the United
States on March 24, and it took very little time before techies added
the kinds of functions to the PSP that Sony did not include -- and may
never have intended. One man needed only 24 hours to get a working
client for Internet Relay Chat, or IRC, an older messaging platform.
"I was on IRC, and someone mentioned how cool it would be to use their
PSP on Wi-Fi at Starbucks to talk to people over IRC. I said, 'I can
do that', so I began working on it immediately," said Robert Balousek,
creator of PSPIRC ( http://www.pspirc.com ), in an email interview.
Balousek said as many as 100,000 people may have visited the IRC
client, and he is starting work on a new project that would let PSP
users chat on the AOL Instant Messenger network.
Hacking new video game hardware is old hat -- rare is the console that
does not get its own version of the operating system from enterprising
developers. But the gaming and hacking communities embraced the PSP
with speed rarely seen in the console world -- a nod, perhaps, to its
portability.
Other "hacks" include a way to transfer TV shows recorded by the
digital video recorder to the PSP
( http://www.zatznotfunny.com/ttg.htm#psp ); a program for reading
ebooks, ( http://gamefries.blogspot.com/2005/03/how-to-get-e-books-on-
your-psp.html ); and a viewer for comics downloaded from the Internet
( http://www.8bitjoystick.com/archives/jake_how_to_read_web_
comics_on_a_playstation_portable.php ).
Much of the new PSP functionality comes from using the Web browser
built into the racing game "Wipeout Pure," which was meant to go to a
Sony site. By changing some of the PSP's network settings, the browser
can be pointed to an Internet portal.
A number of people have already set up such portals, formatted to fit
in the PSP's screen and offering links and a place to enter Web
addresses. The technology blog Engadget has rounded up a number of
those links.
Sony Computer Entertainment of America, the Japanese conglomerate's
U.S. gaming unit, did not respond to requests for comment.
But the tinkerers suggest Sony probably did not have their work in
mind when they released the PSP. Balousek said the company had only
left small loopholes for outsiders to use.
The development community wishes that would change, as evidenced by an
open plea to Sony posted April 5 on the Web site PS2dev.org (
http://www.ps2dev.org ), which is dedicated to the development of
open-source software projects for the PS2.
"I suggest to Sony that they should work with us to develop a method
to allow home-brew software" using technology to protect Sony
copyrights," the site's editor "Oobles" wrote.
------------------------------
Date: 05 Apr 2005 22:57:59 -0700
From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: China's Tomb-Sweeping Day Joins Internet Age
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese burned virtual candles and incense, sent
digital flowers and set fire to paper cell phones on Tuesday as modern
technology changes the way the ancient Qing Ming Tomb-Sweeping Day is
celebrated.
Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional holiday when people honor their
ancestors and flock to cemeteries, but many young Chinese consider
conventional ceremonies like setting off firecrackers, burning real
incense and paper and making offerings of food and drink as passe,
Xinhua news agency said.
"Internet mourning, such as on the 'online cemetery', where virtual
candles or joss-sticks are lit and virtual flowers are sent, is in
fashion, saving millions of people of Chinese origin the trouble of
traveling long distances in order to sweep tombs for their ancestors,"
it said.
New technology had also changed what people like to burn for ancestors
to enjoy in the afterlife as well as traditional items such as cars
and houses, Xinhua said.
Some mourners had added mobile phones "or other big ticket items that
might be of particular interest for the deceased."
Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.
NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily
media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra . Hundreds of new articles daily.
*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without
profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the
understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic
issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I
believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish
to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go
beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright
owner, in this instance, Reuters Limited.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 06 Apr 2005 02:47:37 -0400
From: Marcus Didius Falco <falco_marcus_didius@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: New Heights For In-Flight Internet
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/03/31/bt.internet.flight/index.html
LONDON, England (CNN) -- The Internet has changed the way many
business travelers book their flights, and now it looks set to change
the culture within the cabin.
No executive wants to arrive at their hotel room after a long-haul
flight and have 100 e-mails waiting for them -- one of the reasons why
German carrier Lufthansa took the lead and installed in-flight
Internet access last May.
Since then Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airlines and Scandinavian
Airlines have followed suit, while Singapore Airlines, China Airlines,
Korean Air and Asiana Airlines have announced their intent to install
the system on long-range aircraft.
"I would kill for Internet access on a flight to Europe, it is
something business travelers want and are willing to pay for," says
Chris McGinnis of Travel Skills Group, a business travel consultancy
in Atlanta, Georgia.
Boeing's Connexion network charges flat-rate fees from $10 on short
flights to $30 for long flights for Internet access, with download
data speeds of five Mbps per aircraft, to be shared among all
in-flight users.
The price compares favorably with those for using in-flight
telephones, which are built into airplane seats. This service -- at
more than $2 a minute -- is still expensive and infrequently used by
business travelers
In-flight Internet access works by sending electronic signals from
planes to orbiting satellites, which are then relayed to ground
stations.
Boeing launched the service five years ago, just before the September
11, 2001 attacks.
But at that time U.S. airlines were not in a position to take up the
service.
Many U.S. airlines are still in a difficult position financially and
Delta Airlines is only now considering in-flight Internet -- which
would make it the first domestic U.S. airline to do so.
Connexion now faces competition from OnAir, a European joint venture that
includes Boeing's rival Airbus.
In-flight expectations
Affordable in-flight Internet access could be a source of revenue for
airlines. But service providers may have to bring prices down for
uptake to be significant.
Yet Connexion believes the technology will be a great asset for
airlines, since the Internet is an important tool, and which business
travelers are willing to pay for to catch up on work.
"This technology gives airlines a powerful tool to differentiate
themselves from their competition," Stanley Deal from Connexion says.
However, once more airlines sign on, business travelers may begin to
expect Internet access on major long-haul business routes.
It could then follow the trend at global five star hotels, where
business travelers now expect wireless broadband Internet for free
before checking in.
Despina Afentouli contributed to this report for CNN
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/03/31/bt.internet.flight/index.html
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 10:21:02 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Verizon Brings VoiceWing Internet-Based Calling to Massachusetts
Verizon Brings VoiceWing Internet-Based Calling to Massachusetts
for as Low as $19.95 a Month
VoiceWing Costs Less Than Traditional Phone Service and Harnesses the
Power of the Internet to Provide Unique Calling Features
BOSTON, April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents of Massachusetts now have a
new low-cost, feature-rich option for telephone service with
VoiceWing, an Internet-based calling service from Verizon. One
VoiceWing calling plan just introduced today gives customers 500
minutes of outbound local and domestic long-distance for just $19.95 a
month. An unlimited local and long-distance plan is also available for
as low as $29.95 a month.
VoiceWing customers use a small telephone adapter provided by Verizon
to connect their own telephones to their home high-speed Internet
connections. The telephone adapter allows the VoiceWing customer to
send and receive calls over the Internet instead of using a standard
phone line. The service works with both DSL and cable modem broadband
connections and allows subscribers to call anyone, anywhere,
worldwide.
- http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48188401
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 10:22:27 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Maine Joins Fight to Keep Pay Phones
By GLENN ADAMS Associated Press Writer
FAYETTE, Maine (AP) -- Along a hilly stretch of road in central Maine,
there's no cell phone service for more than a mile.
Callers once used the pay phone outside the Fayette Country Store,
but that ended when the phone company, despite objections, removed
it. Customers who need to make toll calls now are told to drive a few
miles to use a pay phone at the Readfield Post Office.
Around the state and country, similar scenes are playing out as
telephone companies remove unprofitable pay phones. In Maine alone,
the 8,200 pay phones available to the public in 1998 dropped to 4,500
by 2003, according to state Rep. Herbert Adams.
- http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48184373
------------------------------
From: James Carlson <james.d.carlson@sun.com>
Subject: Re: USB to RJ-45 Console Cable?
Date: 06 Apr 2005 07:27:57 -0400
Organization: Sun Microsystems
nmclain@annsgarden.com writes:
> JXM2119 <jxm2119_AT_rochester.rr.com@syrcnyrdrs-01.nyroc.rr.com> wrote:
>> I would like to buy/make a cable that will have a USB
>> connector on one end and an RJ-45 on the other.
> If by "RJ-45" you mean an 8-position modular connector wired to carry
> an Ethernet circuit, you'll need an adapter such as Planet Technology
> Corp. Model PT9500. I have two of these devices in service,
> connecting oldish PCs (W98) to a Linksys router. They work great.
RJ-45 connectors are also commonly used for all sorts of serial links
-- including async (using RS-232 levels), sync (often RS-422), and
even telecom (such as DS-1). It's not just Ethernet.
--
James Carlson, KISS Interop <james.d.carlson@sun.com>
Sun Microsystems / 1 Network Drive 71.234W Vox +1 781 442 2084
MS UBUR02-212 / Burlington MA 01803-2757 42.497N Fax +1 781 442 1677
------------------------------
From: Koos van den Hout <koos+newsposting@kzdoos.xs4all.nl>
Subject: Re: Can Somebody Please Explain CSD to Me?
Date: 6 Apr 2005 12:40:05 GMT
Organization: http://idefix.net/~koos/
bob@jfcl.com wrote:
> I live in San Jose (San Francisco Bay Area) and have Cingular GSM
> service with a Nokia 6620 phone. I'm told that with CSD I can use my
> phone as a modem for my laptop and place a point-to-point data call to
> my ISP. Is that right?
Yes. Although I don't know what 'CSD' stands for in this context.
> Does my ISP need any special equipment to receive this call, or does
> any regular dial up line suffice for the destination?
The ISP doesn't need special equipment. Your GSM provider (Cingular)
needs modem equipment to convert gsm-data to normal 9600 bps calls.
Your ISP does need to accept calls at those rates. Some have their
modems set up to reject calls at 'lower' speeds.
> What do I tell the Cingular sales people on the phone that I want to
> buy?
A Nokia 6620 data cable. A google search for that term gives me
http://www.nokiausa.com/nokia_accessories/6620/1,2224,70,00.html
> Thanks in advance for the help. I won't have any trouble setting up a
> dialup connection on my PC, but I'm afraid I don't know very much
> about cell phone technology.
To your computer it will look like a normal modem that understands
Hayes commands to build a connection and dial your ISP. Your phone
will convert it to a gsm-data call. Cingular can have a different rate
for those calls and not count it against 'voice' minutes you may have.
Hope this helps in getting yourself connected,
Greetings,
Koos van den Hout
Koos van den Hout, PGP keyid RSA/1024 0xCA845CB5 via keyservers
koos@kzdoos.xs4all.nl or DSS/1024 0xF0D7C263 -?)
Fax +31-30-2817051 Visit the site about books with reviews /\\
http://idefix.net/~koos/ http://www.virtualbookcase.com/ _\_V
------------------------------
From: jtaylor <jtaylor@deletethis.hfx.andara.com>
Subject: Re: Wired: Word From on High: Jam Cell Calls
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 08:21:29 -0300
Organization: MCI Canada News Reader Service
John McHarry <jmcharry@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:telecom24.146.5@telecom-digest.org:
> On Sun, 03 Apr 2005 16:45:51 -0700, Lisa Minter wrote:
>> Word From on High: Jam Cell Calls
>> Four churches in Mexico have unobtrusively installed Israeli-made
>> cell-phone jammers to thwart those who don't seem to understand they
>> should turn the things off during services or weddings. They're not
>> the only ones to install the jammers.
> This is kind of old news. Jammers are illegal in the US, but if I were
> building or extensively remodeling a theatre, church, etc., I would
> make it into a Faraday cage. Done right, it is also good insulation.
And so we have a situation where it is not the act that is illegal,
but the method.
Would those who so quickly hope for a lawsuit to arise from a jammer
interfering with an emergency wireless telephone call also claim that
a building so constructed would similarly be grounds for action?
------------------------------
From: tls@panix.com (Thor Lancelot Simon)
Subject: Re: Wired: Word From on High: Jam Cell Calls
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 11:55:59 UTC
Organization: Public Access Networks Corp.
Reply-To: tls@rek.tjls.com
In article <telecom24.146.5@telecom-digest.org>, John McHarry
<jmcharry@comcast.net> wrote:
> On Sun, 03 Apr 2005 16:45:51 -0700, Lisa Minter wrote:
>> Word From on High: Jam Cell Calls
>> Four churches in Mexico have unobtrusively installed Israeli-made
>> cell-phone jammers to thwart those who don't seem to understand they
>> should turn the things off during services or weddings. They're not
>> the only ones to install the jammers.
> This is kind of old news. Jammers are illegal in the US, but if I were
> building or extensively remodeling a theatre, church, etc., I would
> make it into a Faraday cage. Done right, it is also good insulation.
Really? I'd be interested to know what the current state of the art
for "done right" is in this area. I saw such a room constructed once,
about 10-15 years ago: it had "wallpaper" with a conductive grid
printed on the back, and long strips of copper tape running up each
corner of the room to ensure that all the sides were shorted together.
There was chicken-wire-like mesh in the ceiling (this made running
cables a real pain!) and I'm not sure what was in the floor. But I
wouldn't call anything I saw there particularly good thermal
insulation.
I've always figured this must just be how it's done. Is there some
other method?
Thor Lancelot Simon tls@rek.tjls.com
"The inconsistency is startling, though admittedly, if consistency is
to be abandoned or transcended, there is no problem." - Noam Chomsky
------------------------------
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: The Real Reason Why SBC Won't Work With Vonage on E-911
Date: 6 Apr 2005 07:15:19 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com
> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But try to be realistic, would you
> Lisa? For most people, it is not as simple as just saying, 'Do not
> use SBC.' I managed to pull that off, after considerable grief, and
> I _know how the 'system' works_, but as we have said here many times,
> not all cablecos are as effecient and friendly and prepared as ours
> is here Independence. Not everyone has access to good _alternative_
> phone networks as we do here. Oh, I agree, ASAP get yourslf weened
> off of Traditional Bell if that's your pleasure, but its not all that
> easy even for experienced people to do, let alone newbies to telecom.
> PAT]
In my town, the cable company, when still small and locally owned,
relaid its network with fibre-optic cable. I suspect the investment
is not that high to do so. Afterwards they jacked up their rates.
As to good alternatives not being available, that's the free market
that society wanted by breaking up the Bell System.
Maybe other subscribers do like SBC and there isn't enough demand for
alternatives. The textbooks say if people don't like SBC service,
other providers will come in to provide it since they'll be a demand
for their services.
Some people forget that in the real world, a "free market" is often
not what an economics textbook make it out to be. There is no
guarantee that you'll have multiple grocery stores, gas stations, or
department stores. There's no guarantee that the equilibrium reached
in a competitive marketplace is one that we like -- such as the
situation described here.
In cellular phones, it seems to me most companies have settled on a
$40/month service plan, and it's hard to find something cheaper for
occassional users. Theorectically competition should bring that price
down, but the marketplace settled on this particular equilibrium, for
better or for worse.
I must admit I get frustrated when people complain as in this context.
To me, it seems people want the low rates and high service quality of
the old Bell System ALONG WITH competitive choices. In other words,
they want only the 'good' things about a free marketplace but none of
the bad. They forget that in a free marketplace businesses can be
jerks. (I believe it was Mr. Decker himself who pointed out how a gas
station was not very customer friendly and he had to schlep further
down the road to find another). That's the situation now. There is
competition and alternatives, but sometimes one must "go down the
road" to find it.
People complain today the phone companies aren't too helpful if you
have a problem like static on your line. The subscriber must
disconnect every phone in their house and check carefully to be sure
it isn't in any of their telephone sets, answering machines, computer
modems, faxes, or house wiring.
As mentioned before, people once complained about paying $1.00 every
month to rent each extension telephone set. But, they conveniently
forgot that if they had any problems, regardless of cause (telephone
set, house wiring, street wiring, central office, or long distance),
one quick easy phone call took care of it. (Back then telephone sets
and wiring were built to last forever to keep down maintenance costs
and keep service quality high. No longer.)
------------------------------
From: Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
Subject: Re: The Real Reason Why SBC Won't Work With Vonage on E-911
Date: Tue, 05 Apr 2005 22:17:59 -0700
Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com
Michael D. Sullivan wrote:
>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My next question, to Steven, is about
>> Alltel's purchase of Cellular One. _Which_ Cellular One? I had always
>> thought 'Cellular One' was a brand name for a consortium of various
>> cellular carriers which used the 'Cellular One' name. PAT]
> Alltel is acquiring Western Wireless, which not only uses the Cellular
> One brand name in its business as other companies do, it owns the brand
> and franchises use of the name.
Gah! Thanks, Michael. Yes. Western Wireless purchased the CellularONE
brand name from SBC. The many SBC CellularONE markets became
Cingular. Dobson CellularONE and Western Wireless CellularONE remained
CellularONE. WW owned the brand for a few years; Dobson owns a C1
franchise. Anyone have a list of the other C1 franchisees?
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
--New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Dobson owns the Cellular One franchise
here in Independence, and a few miles southeast of here in Liberty, KS
has an antenna set up which is used not only by Cellular One but by
other carriers such as Cingular Wireless and US Cellular and Alltel.
PAT]
------------------------------
From: AES <siegman@stanford.edu>
Subject: Re: Google Maps
Date: Wed, 06 Apr 2005 08:15:02 -0700
Organization: Stanford University
I love all the remarkable, almost unbelievable and unlimited features
of Google. But it truly bothers me that what is fast becoming THE
primary reference and search tool and "window on the world" for me and
so many others is founded on and controlled by an entirely commercial
and primarily advertising-supported financial base.
Sergey Brin and the other founders of Google can say all they want
about their company's ultimate purpose being to "do good", and I'm
quite willing to believe they're sincere about this. But they won't
always be around and may not always have control of Google, and in the
end, "He who pays the piper calls the tune." Think about the power
and the ability to control just what information you are provided --
or are NOT provided -- the potential control that could be exercised
over what commercial, political, technical, ideological,
environmental, or other information is made readily available to you
-- by less idealistic people who might (in fact, are certain to)
acquire ownership of Google some time in the future.
I think the viewpoint expressed in what I sometimes use as a sig file
contains way too much truth:
"Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Lord Acton (1834-1902)
"Dependence on advertising tends to corrupt. Total dependence on
advertising corrupts totally." My own equivalent for today.
------------------------------
From: Gerhard Nowak <nonspam@gmx.net>
Subject: Re: Classic Telephone Call on PC
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 19:56:41 +0400
Organization: Arcor
Yes, I think you are right! Again after failed welding activities
I will have to finally install the asterisk in my Redhat 9.0,
but I don`t know, if the X-pro also will work there.
Only I am not so convinced about Linux yet: Just two days ago I
installed Amule on it and it was running fine, but soon it crashed and
couldn`t be uninstalled anymore (bcause it says "no such file
installed") and when I try to reinstall the .rpm it says "is already
installed"!
Such thing will never happen in Windows, btw., Linux also didn`t
recognize the soundcard yet and there is no special Linux-driver out
there for this. (Redhat 9.0 on an IBM TP600E Laptop)
Thanks to everybody.
Gerry
Mauritius
Robert Bonomi <bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:telecom24.143.18@telecom-digest.org:
> In article <telecom24.142.9@telecom-digest.org>, Gerhard Nowak
> <nonspam@gmx.net> wrote:
> Heck, why didn't you _say_ that's what you wanted to do? Doing -that-
> is an entirely different matter than what you first asked about.
> See <http://www.asterisk.org>
> The price is right -- the software is free, Although it won't run
> under MS Windows, the Windows "replacement" that is required is also
> free.
> Ding, ding, ding! we have a winner! Asterisk requires Linux, or
> similar.
------------------------------
From: Danny Burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
Subject: So ... What's an E-Mail Address Worth to a Spammer?
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 09:47:46 -0400
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC
(note: while this is part of the Schiavo case I'm
forwarding it over for the very specific spam related issue,
not to reopen the rest of the painful sequence /db)
-----------
"An article last Tuesday about the decision by the parents of
Terri Schiavo to let a conservative direct-mailing firm sell a
list of their financial supporters referred incorrectly to the
price the firm would charge. It is $150 per thousand names or
e-mail addresses [a], not $150 a month for all of them.
(The list consists of 6,000 names and 4,000 e-mail addresses.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/05/pageoneplus/corrections.html
original article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/politics/29donate.html?
[a] that's $0.15, or 15 cents/name
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
------------------------------
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