TELECOM Digest     Fri, 2 Sep 2005 06:27:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 398

Inside This Issue:                            Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    New Orleans in Total Anarchy With Rapes, Fights, Looting (Allen G. Breed)
    Houston Astrodome Now Full, Accepting No More Refugees (Easton & Curry)
    Important Gulf Coast Update from T-Mobile (Monty Solomon)
    Verizon Wireless Takes Legal Action Against Florida, Calif (Monty Solomon)
    Verizon Wireless Working Round-the-Clock to Restore Service (Monty Solomon)
    1954 Movie Telephone Scenes (Lisa Hancock)
    Mark Cuccia (was Re: New Orleans Phones Are All Out, Also) (Diamond Dave)
    Re: New Orleans Phones Are All Out, Also (Paul Coxwell)
    Re: The Luncheon Meat Associated With Junk Email? (Paul Coxwell)
    Re: Long Distance = 211 (was Sid Ceasar and Phones) (Neal McLain)
    Re: Connecticut Man Sells Micrsoft Windows Source Code (Julian Thomas)
    Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers (Lisa Hancock)
    Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers (mc)
    Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers (Bruce L. Bergman)
    Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers (Steve Sobol)

Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
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We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we
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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: Allen G. Breed <ap@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: New Orleans in Total Anarchy With Fights, Looting, Rapes
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 03:31:15 -0500


By ALLEN G. BREED, Associated Press Writer

New Orleans descended into anarchy Thursday as corpses lay abandoned
in street medians, fights and fires broke out, cops turned in their
badges and the governor declared war on looters who have made the city
a menacing landscape of disorder and fear.

"They have M-16s and they're locked and loaded," Gov. Kathleen Blanco
said of 300 National Guard troops who landed in New Orleans fresh from
duty in Iraq. "These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are
more than willing to do so, and I expect they will."

Four days after Hurricane Katrina roared in with a devastating blow
that inflicted potentially thousands of deaths, the fear, anger and
violence mounted Thursday.

"I'm not sure I'm going to get out of here alive," said Canadian
tourist Larry Mitzel, who handed a reporter his business card in case
he goes missing. "I'm scared of riots. I'm scared of the locals. We
might get caught in the crossfire."

The chaos deepened despite the promise of 1,400 National Guardsmen a
day to stop the looting, plans for a $10 billion recovery bill in
Congress and a government relief effort President Bush called the
biggest in U.S. history.

New Orleans' top emergency management official called that effort a
"national disgrace" and questioned when reinforcements would actually
reach the increasingly lawless city.

About 15,000 to 20,000 people who had taken shelter at New Orleans
convention center grew ever more hostile after waiting for buses for
days amid the filth and the dead. Police Chief Eddie Compass said
there was such a crush around a squad of 88 officers that they
retreated when they went in to check out reports of assaults.

"We have individuals who are getting raped, we have individuals who
are getting beaten," Compass said. "Tourists are walking in that
direction and they are getting preyed upon."

Col. Henry Whitehorn, chief of the Louisiana State Police, said he heard of
numerous instances of New Orleans police officers -- many of whom from
flooded areas -- turning in their badges.

"They indicated that they had lost everything and didn't feel that it
was worth them going back to take fire from looters and losing their
lives," Whitehorn said.

A military helicopter tried to land at the convention center several
times to drop off food and water. But the rushing crowd forced the
choppers to back off. Troopers then tossed the supplies to the crowd
from 10 feet off the ground and flew away.

In hopes of defusing the situation at the convention center, Mayor Ray
Nagin gave the refugees permission to march across a bridge to the
city's unflooded west bank for whatever relief they could find. But
the bedlam made that difficult.

"This is a desperate SOS," Nagin said in a statement. "Right now we
are out of resources at the convention center and don't anticipate
enough buses."

At least seven bodies were scattered outside the convention center, a
makeshift staging area for those rescued from rooftops, attics and
highways.  The sidewalks were packed with people without food, water
or medical care, and with no sign of law enforcement.

An old man in a chaise lounge lay dead in a grassy median as hungry
babies wailed around him. Around the corner, an elderly woman lay dead
in her wheelchair, covered up by a blanket, and another body lay
beside her wrapped in a sheet.

"I don't treat my dog like that," 47-year-old Daniel Edwards said as
he pointed at the woman in the wheelchair.

"You can do everything for other countries, but you can't do nothing
for your own people," he added. "You can go overseas with the
military, but you can't get them down here."

The street outside the center, above the floodwaters, smelled of urine
and feces, and was choked with dirty diapers, old bottles and garbage.

"They've been teasing us with buses for four days," Edwards
said. "They're telling us they're going to come get us one day, and
then they don't show up."

Every so often, an armored state police vehicle cruised in front of
the convention center with four or five officers in riot gear with
automatic weapons. But there was no sign of help from the National
Guard.

At one point the crowd began to chant "We want help! We want help!"
Later, a woman, screaming, went on the front steps of the convention
center and led the crowd in reciting the 23rd Psalm, "The Lord is my
shepherd ..."

"We are out here like pure animals," the Issac Clark said.

"We've got people dying out here -- two babies have died, a woman
died, a man died," said Helen Cheek. "We haven't had no food, we
haven't had no water, we haven't had nothing. They just brought us
here and dropped us."

Tourist Debbie Durso of Washington, Mich., said she asked a police
officer for assistance and his response was, "'Go to hell -- it's
every man for himself.'"

"This is just insanity," she said. "We have no food, no water ... all
these trucks and buses go by and they do nothing but wave."

FEMA director Michael Brown said the agency just learned about the
situation at the convention center Thursday and quickly scrambled to
provide food, water and medical care and remove the corpses.

Speaking on CNN's "Larry King Live," Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff said the evacuation of New Orleans should be
completed by the end of the weekend.

At the hot and stinking Superdome, where 30,000 were being evacuated
by bus to the Houston Astrodome, fistfights and fires erupted amid a
seething sea of tense, suffering people who waited in a lines that
stretched a half-mile to board yellow school buses.

After a traffic jam kept buses from arriving for nearly four hours, a
riot broke out in the scramble to get on the buses that finally did
show up, with a group of refugees breaking through a line of heavily
armed National Guardsmen.

One military policeman was shot in the leg as he and a man scuffled
for the MP's rifle, police Capt. Ernie Demmo said. The man was
arrested.

Some of those among the mostly poor crowd had been in the dome for
four days without air conditioning, working toilets or a place to
bathe. An ambulance service airlifting the sick and injured out of the
Superdome suspended flights as too dangerous after it was reported
that a bullet was fired at a military helicopter.

"If they're just taking us anywhere, just anywhere, I say praise God,"
said refugee John Phillip. "Nothing could be worse than what we've
been through."

By Thursday evening, 11 hours after the military began evacuating the
Superdome, the arena held 10,000 more people than it did at
dawn. National Guard Capt. John Pollard said evacuees from around the
city poured into the Superdome and swelled the crowd to about 30,000
because they believed the arena was the best place to get a ride out
of town.

As he watched a line snaking for blocks through ankle-deep waters, New
Orleans' emergency operations chief Terry Ebbert blamed the inadequate
response on the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"This is not a FEMA operation. I haven't seen a single FEMA guy," he
said.  He added: "We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami
victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans."

FEMA officials said some operations had to be suspended in areas where
gunfire has broken out, but are working overtime to feed people and
restore order.

A day after Nagin took 1,500 police officers off search-and-rescue
duty to try to restore order in the streets, there were continued
reports of looting, shootings, gunfire and carjackings - and not all
the crimes were driven by greed.

When some hospitals try to airlift patients, Coast Guard
Lt. Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesan said, "there are people just taking potshots
at police and at helicopters, telling them, `You better come get my
family.'"

Outside a looted Rite-Aid drugstore, some people were anxious to show
they needed what they were taking. A gray-haired man who would not
give his name pulled up his T-shirt to show a surgery scar and
explained that he needs pads for incontinence.

"I'm a Christian. I feel bad going in there," he said.

Earl Baker carried toothpaste, toothbrushes and deodorant. "Look, I'm
only getting necessities," he said. "All of this is personal
hygiene. I ain't getting nothing to get drunk or high with."

Several thousand storm victims had arrived in Houston by Thursday
night, and they quickly got hot meals, showers and some much-needed
rest.

Audree Lee, 37, was thrilled after getting a shower and hearing her
teenage daughter's voice on the telephone for the first time since the
storm. Lee had relatives take her daughter to Alabama so she would be
safe.

"I just cried. She cried. We cried together," Lee said. "She asked me
about her dog. They wouldn't let me take her dog with me. ... I know
the dog is gone now."

While floodwaters in the city appeared to stabilize, efforts continued
to plug three breaches that had opened up in the levee system that
protects this below-sea-level city.

Helicopters dropped sandbags into the breach and pilings were being
pounded into the mouth of the canal Thursday to close its connection
to Lake Pontchartrain, state Transportation Secretary Johnny Bradberry
said. The next step called for using about 250 concrete road barriers
to seal the gap.

In Washington, the White House said Bush will tour the devastated Gulf
Coast region on Friday and has asked his father, former President
George H.W.  Bush, and former President Clinton to lead a private
fund-raising campaign for victims.

The president urged a crackdown on the lawlessness.

"I think there  ought to be zero tolerance of  people breaking the law
during an  emergency such as this -- whether it be  looting, or price
gouging at the gasoline pump, or taking advantage of charitable giving
or  insurance fraud,"  Bush said.  "And I've  made that  clear  to our
attorney general. The citizens ought to be working together."

Donald Dudley, a 55-year-old New Orleans seafood merchant, complained
that when he and other hungry refugees broke into the kitchen of the
convention center and tried to prepare food, the National Guard chased
them away.

"They pulled guns and told us we had to leave that kitchen or they
would blow our damn brains out," he said. "We don't want their
help. Give us some vehicles and we'll get ourselves out of here!"

Associated Press reporters Adam Nossiter, Brett Martel, Robert Tanner and
Mary Foster contributed to this report.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And so, desite working all day and
night to evacuate people, at the end of the day they wind up with _ten
thousand more people_ than they started out with that morning. It
seems like someone (Mister Mayor -- Ray Nagin -- perhaps) may have 
miscalculated how many people heeded the original 'mandatory'
evacuation request last weekend. And a terribly sad part of this story
was on a video tape Thursday evening on WWL-Channel 4 (with its 24
hour per day continuous coverage of the spectacle): Four young children, 
the oldest age eight) wandering around at the SuperDome with their
mother missing; apparently when the kids were rescued the rescuers
somehow missed getting (or did not find) the mother. The oldest child,
the eight year old boy was watching so protectively over his three
younger siblings, who were all crying. PAT]

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

From: Pam Easton and Matt Curry <ap@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Houston Astrodome Now Full, Accepting no More Evacuees
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 03:34:05 -0500


By PAM EASTON and MATT CURRY, Associated Press Writers

After accepting more than 11,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees, officials
said the Astrodome was full and at least temporarily halted the flow
of evacuees into the shelter Thursday night.

"We've actually reached capacity for the safety and comfort of the
people inside there," American Red Cross spokeswoman Dana Allen said
shortly before midnight. She said people were "packed pretty tight" on
the floor of the Astrodome.

Instead of sending arriving buses away to other shelters, however,
officials decided early Friday to process the refugees there and begin
housing people in the adjacent Reliant Center, where the Houston
Texans play football, said Houston press secretary Patrick Trahan.

It wasn't immediately clear if others would be housed at the
Astrodome.

At least 20 buses were lined up in three directions outside the
Astrodome early Friday. Dozens of frustrated and angry people milled
about outside.  They were handed bottles of cold water, baggies with
sandwiches -- for many it was their first cold water or food in days --  
and greeted by Houston officials. 

Before we left New Orleans they said everybody will be in the
Astrodome," said Patricia Profit, who stood outside one of the buses
while some of her relatives were inside the Astrodome. "'Don't panic,
don't worry, you'll still be with your family.' That's what they told
us. Now we can't be with our family."

Houston's fire marshal had made the decision that the stadium was
full, said police Sgt. Nathan McDuell. 

"It would be unfortunate if we were to bring these individuals from a
desperate situation and create another desperate situation here,"
McDuell said.

He later said the situation had been reassessed and more people could
be processed.

"It's a very fluid situation and we have to deal with the situations
as they arrive," McDuell said. "Our main goal and main interest is to
make sure everybody is safe."

The total of 11,375 inside the Astrodome when the initial decision on
capacity was made was less than half the estimated 23,000 people who
were expected to arrive by bus from New Orleans in Houston, and even
that estimate is now being reconsidered in light of the more than ten
thousand additional citizens previously unaccounted for who arrived at
the SuperDome in New Orleans. 

Those refugees who arrived earlier, weary from days in the sweltering,
miserable conditions at the Superdome, were happy to get a shower, a hot
meal and a cool place to sleep.

Thirty deputies working on overtime provided security and searched
refugees for weapons. A few people were arrested, although Sheriff
Tommy Thomas didn't have an exact count. He said some men were
arrested for going into the female showers. Others were arrested for
fighting over cots.

"These bunks are going to be territorial. Somebody gets up and then
somebody's going to take their bunk," Thomas said.

Police officers also have confiscated 30 guns, most of which have been
voluntarily surrendered, McDuell said. He added, "they may have needed
these things in New Orleans, they won't need them here."

Doctors and nurses set up a clinic to help people with high blood
pressure, diabetes and other health problems. Ambulances waited in the
parking lots for those needing hospital care, said Dr. Herminia
Polacio, a Harris County public health official.

"Many of them have been in situations in the Superdome where they have
been under quite a bit of duress, such as several days without
medication," she said.

Organizers spent the past two days setting up cots that covered the
Astrodome's cement floor. They provided phones and a message board so
refugees could contact loved ones, and gathered supplies such as bottled
water, soap, toothbrushes and diapers.

Outside the Astrodome, trucks delivered sandwiches and paramedics
assessed new arrivals for health problems under tents in a makeshift
triage center.

Evacuees, most who hadn't bathed since the hurricane hit Monday,
showered in one of four locker rooms once used by the Houston Astros
and the Houston Oilers. Those teams now play in new stadiums, one
within walking distance of the aging Astrodome.

Audree Lee, 37, felt relief after getting a shower and hearing her
teenage daughter's voice on the telephone for the first time since the
storm. Lee had relatives take her daughter to Alabama so she would be
safe.

"I just cried. She cried. We cried together," Lee said.

As she was offered chips and an apple, Lee said the conditions Houston
are far better than they were in New Orleans, but she can't wait to
get back to her home state.

"I've never been through anything like this," she said. "We have nothing to
go home to. I just want to be safe and comfortable."

Volunteer Daniel Rittgers said many of the refugees remain in shock.

"They are still in the moment of survival," he said. "They have been
displaced."

The first refugees arrived Wednesday night on a school bus, apparently
commandeered by a person who then picked up other evacuees who were
stranded on the interstate. Another school bus arrived about two hours
later, followed by the first commercial bus that was part of the
emergency evacuation effort to transport Superdome residents to
Houston.

Hungry and tired, the refugees ate scrambled eggs, biscuits and orange
juice for breakfast, and then passed out on cots to get some much-needed
rest.

"People are so happy to have a hot meal," said Margaret O'Brien
Molina, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross. "Some of the folks
haven't had a hot meal in days."

Some, however, weren't pleased about the long trip to Texas.

Ruby Roussell, who lost her house and car to the hurricane, said she
climbed aboard a bus in New Orleans thinking she'd be dropped off in
Baton Rouge, where she has family. Instead, she found herself in
Houston.

"We didn't choose to come to this place," she said. "We didn't ask to
come here."

Farrell Johnson, a 54-year-old carpenter from New Orleans, said the
shelter was overcrowded Thursday afternoon and tempers had begun to
flare. He said it's hard not to be frustrated given the circumstances.

"First, you know, we done lost everything," he said. "See what I have
on?  This is it. That is enough right there."

Houston Mayor Bill White said some problems are to be expected.

"You're talking about God's children here ... My mom and dad used to
say, 'There's always a few bad apples,'" he said.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

More stories from Associated Press and others at:
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html

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

Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 02:00:28 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Important Gulf Coast Update from T-Mobile


BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 2, 2005--T-Mobile USA today
issued an update on its efforts to restore its wireless network in the
north Gulf Coast areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Following is updated information from T-Mobile as of Sept. 2:

    --  More than 80 percent of T-Mobile market coverage is now
        operational in the Mobile, Ala. area.

    --  More than 40 percent of T-Mobile market coverage is now
        operational in the Hattiesburg, Miss. and Mississippi Gulf
        Coast areas.

    --  Fifty percent of T-Mobile wireless coverage is now operational
        in the greater New Orleans area. Downtown New Orleans is still
        experiencing limited service, although T-Mobile crews are
        making progress in their efforts to restore service as
        emergency personnel allow access to some of the hardest hit
        areas.

    --  T-Mobile has mobilized resources from across the country to
        support the recovery efforts. Specifically, T-Mobile offices
        in Atlanta, Dallas and Houston have sent significant numbers
        of engineers and technicians to conduct onsite recovery
        efforts.

    --  T-Mobile is employing several hundred generators and dozens of
        cells-on-wheels (COWs); and has access to enough fuel to keep
        the generators powering cell sites up and running, and to
        bring new sites online.

T-Mobile personnel on the north Gulf Coast rode out the storm at its
switching facility in New Orleans in an effort to keep its network
functioning at the highest service levels possible. Additional
engineers were on the ground within hours in the hardest-hit areas to
begin the process of restoring wireless service to residents and
public safety agencies throughout the affected areas.

Historical Data:

    --  The T-Mobile New Orleans Switching facility, which serves New
        Orleans and Baton Rouge, remained operational throughout
        Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

    --  In order to keep the switch operational following the storm,
        T-Mobile immediately began airlifting supplies, technicians
        and diesel fuel into the facility to keep the switch supplied
        with generator power (Editor's Note: video footage available
        to the media upon request). This would not have been possible
        without the exceptional aid of local law enforcement agencies,
        which have been instrumental in assisting T-Mobile in keeping
        this vital communications link operational.

        --  On 8/29, T-Mobile processed 600,000 wireless calls into
            and out of New Orleans

        --  On 8/30, T-Mobile processed 1.1 million wireless calls
            into and out of New Orleans

        --  On 8/31, T-Mobile processed 1.4 million wireless calls
            into and out of New Orleans

        --  The T-Mobile switches which serve Alabama and Mississippi
            also remained in operation throughout Hurricane Katrina
            despite the fact that the switch buildings sustained heavy
            damage due to rain and wind.


     - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51538253

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

Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 02:01:45 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Verizon Wireless Takes Legal Action Against Florida, California


     Verizon Wireless Takes Legal Action Against Florida, California
     Telemarketers to Defend Customers' Privacy

Lawsuit Says Apparent Use Of Auto-Dialers and Pre-recorded Messages
             In Calls To Cell Phones Violated Federal, State Laws

BEDMINSTER, N.J., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, owner and
operator of the nation's most reliable wireless network, is standing
up once again for customer privacy rights in lawsuits charging two
telemarketing companies with illegal solicitation of cell phone users.

In separate lawsuits, believed to be the first of their kind by a U.S.
wireless provider against telemarketing firms, Verizon Wireless is
seeking injunctions against the two companies, Intelligent
Alternatives of San Diego, CA, and Resort Marketing Trends of Coral
Springs, FL, that apparently made hundreds of thousands of calls to
cell phone customers using pre-recorded messages and auto-dialers in
violation of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act as well as
state laws.

Based on information from customers and company employees who received
telemarketing calls on their mobile phones, Verizon Wireless is
seeking injunctions against the continued use of the illegal
telemarketing practices and also is asking the courts to award
monetary damages.  Both suits were filed Wednesday: the Intelligent
Alternatives suit was filed in state Superior Court in Sacramento,
Calif.; the Resort Marketing suit was filed in state Superior Court in
Somerville, NJ.

     - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51511289

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

Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 02:03:10 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Verizon Wireless Working Round-the-Clock to Restore, Maintain


     Verizon Wireless Working Round-the-Clock to Restore, Maintain and
     Enhance Service in Gulf Coast Area

Service Improvements Continue in Baton Rouge, Pensacola, Mobile;
Network Equipment Ready to Join in New Orleans Recovery Efforts

BEDMINSTER, N.J., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless continues
the urgent work of maintaining and restoring wireless service in the
New Orleans and Gulf Coast regions in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina.  The company has dispatched teams of network technicians who
are making progress in strengthening communications in many of the
affected areas.  Service to parts of New Orleans and surrounding
areas, including Mandeville, Lacombe, Slidell, Hammond and Covington,
are beginning to come back online and coverage has been reestablished
at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International airport. Wireless service
continues to improve in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Pensacola, Florida;
and Mobile, Alabama and in surrounding areas where technicians have
been able to move in and begin restoring the network.

     - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51530574

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: 1954 Movie Telephone Scenes
Date: 1 Sep 2005 20:03:48 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com


"Executive Suite" is a 1954 movie about jockeying for power in a
corporation after the president's unexpected sudden death with no
clear heir.  Aside from being a good movie, there were quite a few
interesting historic telephone scenes.

The movie opens with the president sending a telegram from New York to
Pennsylvania at a prominently marked Western Union office.  The charge
is an even $1.00, decent money for that day, but apparently cheaper
than a long distance phone call.

Back at the home office, in the executive office tower, there are lots
of phones.  Everybody had two phones on their desks as well as an
intercom.  The first phone was a key set (lots of keysets).  Most
phones were Western Electric 300-type sets, although some non-Bell
phones were used too.  The phones were regularly used in the movie to
convey urban messages.

In one scene, they had to reach a VP who left for the weekend for a
resort.  They called the turnpike toll plaza, where the collectors
knew him, and asked the collectors to give him a message.  Perhaps in
1954 turnpike interchange traffic was light enough to permit such
personal service, but I can't imagine how they'd respond to such a
request today.

There were several switchboards shown.  In a fancy restaurant/club a
telephone operator served guests with a console PBX.  Guests were
directed to phone booths when the call was completed.  Another scene
showed a traditional cord PBX.

A person-to-person long distance call was placed by name, town, and
company, which was not uncommon in those days.  At some point the Bell
System advertised for callers to place calls by number, not name.
Obviously having the toll operator wait and tie up a circuit while
directory assistance pulled up the number was inefficient.

All the office buildings had uniformed elevator operators and starters
in the lobbies.  I forgot that automatic elevators were uncommon then.
I believe buildings built around 1957 had fancy automatic elevators.

Another feature was that the death of a furniture manufacturer
president was big news.  Industrial concerns like that were a very big
deal in that era, much more so than today.  A Newsweek or Time
magazine was filled with "general-awareness" ads by such corporations,
such as a nut-and-bolt company in Wheeling WVa.  Today it's computer
companies, and factories that make actual goods are forgotten, even
though they still exist.

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

From: Diamond Dave <dmine45.NOSPAM@yahoo.com>
Subject: Mark Cuccia (was Re: New Orleans Phones Are All Out, Also)
Organization: The BBS Corner / Diamond Mine On-Line
Date: Thu, 01 Sep 2005 20:40:12 -0400


On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 19:11:21 -0400, TELECOM Digest Editor noted in
response to Diamond Dave <dmine45.NOSPAM@yahoo.DOTcom>:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You might wish to try the Tulane
> University library, where he was employed, and ask them what they
> know, if anything. I do not know how badly, if at all, the flood
> affected the library and its book collections. Obviously, the phones
> are out, but perhaps someone with some imagination can find a way to
> reach the library staff.   PAT]

Mark no longer works at the Tulane law library. He and Tulane parted
ways in May of this year.

I've tried his landline and cell, as others who know him (and regular
posters on here) have also tried various methods to no avail.

We're still trying. If anyone who knows him as well, please let us
know one way or the other.

Thanks!

Dave Perrussel

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

Date: Thu, 01 Sep 2005 22:19:50 +0100
From: Paul Coxwell <paulcoxwell@tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: Re: New Orleans Phones Are All Out, Also


> I know Mark quite well and I'm conerned about his well being as well.

> I have not heard from him since Sunday afternoon. He told me he was
> staying put at his apartment in the eastern section of New Orleans.
> His mother and sister left for Houston about a day before Katrina hit.

> I keep trying his home phone and cell phone, but obviously neither are
> working. Hopefully he is alright. If I hear anything, I'll post it
> here as well as other places where he has been known to hang out. If
> anyone gets a hold of him before I do, please do the same!

> In addition to his well being, I'm also worried if his apartment got
> flooded and that he lost a lot of telco related books and manuals that
> he has collected over the years.

> Lets keep everyone involved in our thoughts and prayers!!

> Dave Perrussel
> Webmaster - Telephone World
> http://www.dmine.com/phworld

Hear hear!  Over here in Britain we're known to grumble about our
rather non-descript and notoriously fickle climate, but we rarely
experience extremes and they are never anywhere near as severe as
those which hit the United States.

It's sobering to see the horrendous pictures from the South and to
realize that climate-wise, we actually have mnch to be thankful for.

May God bless and protect everyone involved.

-Paul

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

Date: Thu, 01 Sep 2005 22:18:40 +0100
From: Paul Coxwell <paulcoxwell@tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: Re: The Luncheon Meat Associated With Junk Email?


> Sort of how the big joke during the heyday of DEC's VAX computers was
> the ad by a European (Quite likely British) manufacturer of vacuum
> cleaners titled "Nothing sucks like a Vax".

> That ad made it into quite a few VAX shops.

Yep, British company started in the 1970s VAX vacuum cleaners are
still made, although they've changed the slogan now.  ;)

http://www.vax.co.uk/history.htm

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

Date: Thu, 01 Sep 2005 20:13:24 -0500
From: Neal McLain <nmclain@annsgarden.com>
Reply-To: nmclain@annsgarden.com
Subject: Re: Long Distance = 211 (was Sid Ceasar and Phones)


Tim@Backhome.org wrote:

> I wonder whether "211" was just a California thing in those 
> days?  If so, wasn't Jimmy, Raymond, and Grace (oh what a 
> beautiful woman ;-) in an apartment house in NYC?

Greenwich Village.   http://tinyurl.com/7bbtx

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I know we had '211' in the 
> Chicago area in those days and in New York City as well.  PAT]

Wesrock@aol.com wrote:

> Was this true in LA, which was still primarily step at this 
> time?  Most predominantly step cities used "110" for the Long
> Distance operator.

Some godawful Jerry Lewis movie had him sitting at a manual PBX
impersonating a female operator.  At one point, the telco operator tells
him to call 110 if he wants long distance.  I don't remember anything
more about this film because it was so awful that I walked out.

> Predominantly panel type cities (including those that had some
> crossbar mixed in by this time) used "211."

This gets us back to the endless N11 v. 11N thread.  Our expert on
such things is Mark Cuccia, but I suspect that Mark has other things
on his mind right now.

Speaking of Mark, has anybody heard from him since Katrina hit New
Orleans?

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

From: Julian Thomas <blackhole@jt-mj.net>
Date: Thu, 01 Sep 2005 21:56:45 -0400
Subject: Re: Connecticut Man Sells Micrsoft Windows Source Code


In <20050901191858.CF70A153E8@massis.lcs.mit.edu>, on 09/01/05 at
03:18 PM, Joe Morris typed:


> (On the day of the New World announcement IBM
> released four "program products".  A headline in a subsequent issue of
> _Computerworld_ read "SURPRISE!  Software costs as much as a printer!". 
> The reference was to one of the four program products, Generalized
> Information System (GIS), which had a monthly charge (running forever) of
> ~US$1200 (in 1969 dollars!), which was about the same as the monthly
> rental fee for a 1403-N1 1100 lpm printer.

And a festering piece of excrement that was.  The GIS Query Editor, in
particular, was buggy with a primitive user interface to boot.
 

Julian Thomas:      http://jt-mj.net
In the beautiful Finger Lakes Wine Country of New York State!
Warpstock 2005: Hershey, Pa. October 6-9, 2005 - http://www.warpstock.org

A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in
human history -- with the possible exceptions of handguns and
tequila. -- Mitch Ratliffe

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: dear comp.dcom.telecom readers
Date: 1 Sep 2005 13:28:17 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com


PAT:  Below is the message.  You needn't reproduce it.

Note that the same message came through the WW II newsgroup even though
that group is moderated as well.  Their moderator has also spoken of
the challenge to keep out the garbage that comes flowing in.

I am disappointed that the Internet has been allowed to fill up so much
with garbage, thievery, and malicious sabotage.  Time magazine just had
a piece on how highly skilled hackers were attempting to enter (or
actually entered) US military sites.  People who maintain firewalls
tell me there are constant hits.  Consumers who hook up mini-home
networks to broadband DSL or cable are at risk for being hijacked by
hackers as launching points for further mischief.

This newsgroup discussed this issue recently.  I was disappointed with
some posters who vehmenently denied any and all responsibility for the
lack of security, controls, and easy access of the Internet.  Hiding
behind technical excuses is not the way to deal with a problem.

Many thousands of years ago humankind realized that if people are
going to live and work together they need to establish and follow
common guidelines so as to get along fairly and move forward.  Civil
governments and religious law were established globally.  Indeed,
humans have chosen authoritarian dictatorships over unorganized
anarchy as a better way to go.  We created "civilization" and being
"civilized" was our goal.

For some unknown reason the long established laws which govern
traditional human interaction don't apply on the Internet.  Apparently
if I knock on your front door and defraud you out of $1,000 the cops
will come after me, but if I manage to do it electronically, you're
[S---] out of luck.  I don't know if that's because the laws won't
cover it, there is no willingness to fight such crime, law enforcement
is overwhelmed by it, or they can't figure out how to trace back the
money.  If it's on credit card, why is it so hard to trace who received
the payment?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As Lisa requested, the several K of
text which came along was deleted here. Lisa, I am also greatly
disappointed at how internet has become in the past several years. I
suppose it was unrealistic of me to expect it would always retain the
same status quo as it had in the 1980's, but still ...  PAT]

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

From: mc <mc_no_spam@uga.edu>
Subject: Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers
Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2005 17:03:01 -0400


"mc" <mc_no_spam@uga.edu> wrote in message 
news:telecom24.397.15@telecom-digest.org:

>I thought this (comp.dcom.telecom) was a moderated newsgroup.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I kept the 'Re:' on the subject line of
> this message because even though _I_ did not see this message at all
> (it may have fallen in the spam trash basket here and gone
> unobserved), apparently _some people_ got the original comment. If
> anyone wants to tell me what the _original message_ was all about, I
> will be most appreciative.

It was a long political exhortation.  Thanks for confirming that he faked 
his way around the moderation process. 


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are quite welcome (to the confirmation),
and of course (but of course!) there are no hard feelings.   PAT]

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

From: Bruce L. Bergman <blbergman@notchur@biz>
Subject: Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers
Date: Fri, 02 Sep 2005 05:08:12 GMT
Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net


PAT: Please leave my address munged as 'b l bergman at earth link dot
net'  to confuse the bots.  And I DO care about Usenet.


On Thu, 1 Sep 2005 11:14:51 -0400, mc <mc_no_spam@uga.edu> wrote:

> I thought this (comp.dcom.telecom) was a moderated newsgroup.

It IS a moderated newsgroup and only messages that have gone past
Pat an are approved by him (or Lisa) are supposed to be propagated,
but if you check the headers -- I'll attach the original message below,
PAT feel free to snip it off or edit it for length -- the sender forged
himself an Approved: header.

Almost all news servers do not check if the approval is valid, it just
sees that the header is there and sends the message through.  And Pat,
forget about sending a cancel message -- forged cancel messages are so
prevalent that very few servers will act on them.

(There are programs that will try to mass-cancel all the messages in a
newsgroup so a radical can silence his opposition.  Even if it doesn't
work, then you have to wade through all the cancel message clutter to
read the messages with real content.)

The original message below has appeared unchanged in many of the
groups I read.  The guy is trying to accuse President Bush of being an
international terrorist by sending our armed forces out to invade and
capture countries, murder, torture, rape, etc.  But there ARE loons
out there that will believe practically anything, facts be damned ...

I will complain to his hosting company and to Google (his GMail return
address) but it is much more effective if lots of people do it.

One complaint to an ISP and you might as well not bother, they will
ignore it.  (With a few exceptions like Erols.)  But when they have to
dedicate one or two employee's time for several days emptying out
thousands of messages from the Abuse@ mailbox and dealing with the
backlash, THEN they will do something about the original poster.

Oh, and it might be a "Joe Job" smear attempt instead, considering the
post has the (alleged) full name and address at the bottom.

     --<< Bruce >>--

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I kept the 'Re:' on the subject line of
> this message because even though _I_ did not see this message at all
> (it may have fallen in the spam trash basket here and gone
> unobserved), apparently _some people_ got the original comment. If
> anyone wants to tell me what the _original message_ was all about, I
> will be most appreciative. My presumption (we know what 'they' say
> about 'assume' and 'assumption'; what do 'they' say about 'presume'
> and 'presumption'?) is that it was some flavor of spam, or scam, or
> other get-rich-quick scheme. And yes, mc, c.d.t. is in theory a
> moderated newsgroup. Years and years ago, I would have seen your
> message (of course, I probably would have seen my copy of it also) and
> dropped everything to rush around and find out which news site had a
> leak which was allowing the spam/scam to propogate around the net. It
> was important to keep _my_ newsgroup looking impeccable.  I would have
> sat here and put out control:cancel messages until I was blue in the
> face, to keep the newsgroup clean. That's when I was known as the
> moderator who did not give a shit, or even an iota of a shit.

> For quite some time now, Usenet has been an area that I simply cannot
> be concerned about. Yes, I still feed it daily, but no, I do not worry
> about the sewage which flows in from everywhere on an almost daily
> basis. Like the former crown jewel of the south, New Orleans, the 
> internet is sinking deeper and deeper into the mire every day. Like we
> are going to see in the instance of New Orleans where most people who
> _matter_ and most institutions which _matter_ are going to desert it
> totally over the next couple of years, giving it over to the Red Ants
> which are feasting on the carcasses -- human and animal -- floating
> along Canal Street, we'll begin to see (already have begun to see)
> less and less of what _matters_ on the net, which in the 1980-90's 
> used to be our own crown jewel. If someone who has a copy of the
> message in question will send it to me, I'll do a cancel on it if
> it is still possible.  PAT] 

And here is the original message, with all headers.

> Path: newsspool2.news.pas.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-pas-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!pd7cy1no!shaw.ca!newscon02.news.prodigy.com!newscon06.news.prodigy.com!prodigy.net!news-feed01.roc.ny.frontiernet.net!nntp.frontiernet.net!news02.roc.ny.POSTED!53ab2750!not-for-mail
> From: tomstdenis@gmail.com
> Message-ID: <19c6d3be.35050c49.tomstdenis@gmail.com>
> Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom,mn.test
> Subject: dear comp.dcom.telecom readers
> Approved: tomstdenis@gmail.com
> User-Agent: Xnews/M3
> Sender: ottawa-hs-209-217-122-41.s-ip.magma.ca [209.217.122.41]
> Lines: 90
> X-Complaints-To: abuse-news@frontiernet.net
> X-Trace: 52616e646f6d4956902cec576439a1fbc7e2ca3ff44e0eae17e4e285f8a55b7b2ba61b710b42fc794ee846752154951ed4faee4e122dad8fc0d9393aaca7c6b51a03346f34f0a0934466a5ccca759f67dfb75d52d3e4c30490a3466f0b8bd1a9
> X-Abuse-Info: Please be sure to forward ALL headers so that we may process your complaint properly.
> NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 01 Sep 2005 09:38:24 UTC
>Date: Thu, 01 Sep 2005 09:38:24 GMT
> Xref: news.earthlink.net comp.dcom.telecom:59751 mn.test:8345
> X-Received-Date: Thu, 01 Sep 2005 02:38:24 PDT (newsspool2.news.pas.earthlink.net)

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

From: Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
Subject: Re: Dear comp.dcom.telecom Readers
Date: Thu, 01 Sep 2005 22:15:04 -0700
Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com


mc wrote:

> I thought this (comp.dcom.telecom) was a moderated newsgroup.

It is, but it's not hard to get around the moderation requirement, due to a 
flaw in the basic design of the NetNews Transfer Protocol.

And it's possible something just slipped through Pat's fingers; I moderate 
rec.radio.broadcasting and occasionally the same thing happens to me.


Steve Sobol, Professional Geek   888-480-4638   PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It did not come through _my_ inbox in 
normal channels. If it had -- and I thought it had not been used in
many other newsgroups, I _might_ (not saying for sure either way) have
tidied it up some and used it here, because he did make a few good
points. I would have caught hell for doing so by the people who do not
seem to mind being off-topic as long as the off-topic sort of meets
their own agenda, but they sure give me a blast when it is off-topic
and not in their own agenda. 

And Steve, I know you are running r.r.b. these days, so would you mind
talking to John Levine and the guy in Minnesota who is handling the
Airwaves.com web site about the problems he is/was having with the IP
address for http://airwaves.com ? He has written me a couple times to
note that when Bill Pfieffer passed away, the whole thing was left in
the care of Cindy (Bill's planned to be fiance), and that since that
time, apparently the web site has been improperly moved around. Thank
you very much, Steve.    PAT]  

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


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