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TELECOM Digest     Mon, 19 Sep 2005 12:22:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 427

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Broadband to Rule the TV Waves (Monty Solomon)
    Verizon's Fios Service Moves US Internet Beyond Snail's Pace (M Solomon)
    Music-Playing Cellphones Hit a Flat Note (Monty Solomon)
    Hollywood Gets a Hand (Monty Solomon)
    Cellular-News for Monday 19th September 2005 (Cellular-News)
    Re: Use of Bell Logo: Qwest? SBC? (Arthur Kamlet)
    Re: Use of Bell Logo: Qwest? SBC? Lisa Hancock)
    Re: Use of Bell Logo: Qwest? SBC? (Steven Lichter)
    Re: BellSouth/AT&T New Orleans "Main" at Baronne & Poydras (Isaiah Beard)
    Re: You Need a New Computer (Tony P.)
    Re: Record Labels Sue Baidu for Copyright Infringement (Tony P.)
    Re: Roaming Charges (Lisa Hancock)
    Re: When it Rains, it Pours  .... (William Warren)
    Motorola Bag Phone (Steven Lichter)

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See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details
and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest.  

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

Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 17:10:32 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Broadband to Rule the TV waves


By Jo Twist
BBC News technology reporter

TV delivered into living rooms over broadband connections will
completely change TV as well as the internet as we know it, concludes
a major report.

IPTV (internet protocol TV), as it is known, is a budding area that is
exciting telecoms and media companies.

Within a decade, says the report from Lovelace Consulting and
informitv, TV delivered to sets over the net will be an established
way to receive content.

TV will be much more web-like, with millions of shows to download.

Within five years, the authors predict, many households will have
their TV piped through a satellite dish, rooftop aerial or cable
network, and through a broadband phone line.

TVs will be hooked up to set-top boxes which are in turn hooked up to
the broadband pipe too. The broadcast and on-demand programmes it will
be able to receive will be in standard as well as high-definition
formats.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4230662.stm

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

Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 23:07:04 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Verizon's Fios Service Moves U.S. Internet Beyond a Snail's Pace


By WALTER S. MOSSBERG

High-speed Internet connections have finally gone mainstream in the
U.S. But there's a problem: What passes for high speed in this country
is pathetically slow compared with Internet service in some other
countries.

For instance, Verizon's entry-level DSL service, at 768 kilobits per
second for downloads and 128 kilobits per second for uploads, is
considered high-speed here. But in Japan and Korea, families can buy
moderately priced Internet service measured in the tens of megabits
per second. They get a race car, while Americans are stuck with a
bicycle.

A megabit per second (mbps) connection moves about 1,000 times as much
data every second as a kilobit per second (kbps) connection. A service
running at 10 megabits per second is more than 13 times as fast as
Verizon's base DSL service. All such services have two modes:
downstream, for downloading Web pages, email and files; and upstream,
for uploading email or files. Generally, Internet providers offer much
faster downstream speeds than upstream speeds.

Even the faster common U.S. broadband offerings, like Comcast's $42.95
a month basic cable-modem service, which delivers 6 mbps downstream
and 384 kbps upstream, are ridiculously slow compared with the Asian
offerings.

But now, Verizon is offering Americans in certain parts of the country
a new, much faster Internet service for only a little more than
Comcast charges for its basic service. This new product, called Fios,
offers 15 mbps downstream and 2 mbps upstream for $50 a month, or $45
a month if you use Verizon for your telephone service.

There are also two other Fios plans: 5 mbps downstream and 2 mbps
upstream for $40 a month; and 30 mbps downstream and 5 mbps upstream
for $200 a month. Both also are discounted if you also use Verizon
phone service.

I had Fios installed in my house in July, and I've been comparing it
with Comcast's basic cable-modem service. I have been pleased with
Fios's speed and reliability, which are true to Verizon's claims. On
some tasks, it is markedly faster than Comcast. And on my laptops
connected via a Wi-Fi wireless network, which tends to degrade
Internet speeds, the speed increase has been especially noticeable.

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20050915.html

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

Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 23:10:09 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Music-Playing Cellphones Hit a Flat Note


By WALTER S. MOSSBERG

After months of anticipation, Apple Computer last week finally
unveiled the first cellphone that combines elements of its hot-selling
iPod music players. The $250 phone, called the ROKR, was designed and
made by Motorola; is being sold by Cingular; and contains special
iPod-like music-playback software created by Apple.

But Apple is strangely unenthusiastic about it. Apple's heavily
trafficked Web home page relegated the new phone to a small box
underneath a giant photo touting its newest music player, the iPod
nano. By contrast, the Motorola and Cingular home pages were dominated
by the new music phone.

After a week or so of testing the ROKR, along with a couple of
competing music phones, my assistant Katie Boehret and I share Apple's
indifference. As a music player, the Motorola ROKR is OK, as are the
two other music phones we tested. But none of them approaches either
the style or the functionality of the iPod, and none lives up to the
full potential of what a combined cellphone and music player could be.

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20050914.html

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

Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 17:15:55 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Hollywood Gets a Hand


The beleaguered movie studios find an unlikely ally in the PlayStation
Portable-and a new format takes off.

By N'Gai Croal
Newsweek  Sept. 26, 2005 issue

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9379116/site/newsweek/

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

Subject: Cellular-News for Monday 19th September 2005
Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 08:04:01 -0500
From: Cellular-News <dailydigest@cellular-news.com>


Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com

  Two Operators Sold To New Venture
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14087.php

Blackfoot Communications of Missoula has sold its mobile wireless
communications businesses to MTPCS. MTPCS, headquartered in Great
Falls, will maintain a significant operations center in Montana, and
has extensive plans ...

  Cingular Wireless Eases 3G Activation for Consumers
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14088.php

Cingular Wireless says that it will use SmartTrust's Over-The-Air
technology (OTA) to help simplify the 3G activation process for its
customers when it launches its next generation wireless services later
this year. The ...

  EDGE for Iceland
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14089.php

Iceland Telecom says that it is planning to deploy EDGE technology
over the next few months. Data transport via mobile telephones has
increased steadily, and more and more people use Iceland Telecom's
GPRS services. The ...

  Worlds Largest WiMAX Trial
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14090.php

Marconi says that it has been selected to support the largest public
WiMAX trial to date, providing WiMAX connectivity in Italy's Piedmont
and Sicily regions. The selection was made by a working party that
included repre ...

  Mobile TV and Video Services Could Overload 3G Networks
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14091.php

Mobile TV and video services -- viewed by operators as a means to drive
3G take-up and increase average revenue per user (ARPU) -- could
overwhelm 3G networks in the next two years, according to the new
Sound Partners repo ...

  SMS Used to Send Death Threats
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14092.php

Reporters Without Borders has condemned the death threats and
intimidation targeted in the past few days and weeks against two
journalists working in the northeastern Amazonian departments of
Loreto and Ucayali, Julia Sa ...

  Eurotel details WCDMA Launch Plans
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14093.php

The Czech republic based Eurotel Praha has announced its plans to
launch its WCDMA/UMTS network. More than one year ahead of time the
company will meet the commitment associated with the purchase of the
UMTS network oper ...

  Vodafone Plans to Outsource Dutch Network Management
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14094.php

Vodafone Netherlands and Ericsson Netherlands have signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) to outsource parts of its network activities,
namely the roll out, the running and the maintenance of the radio
network of Vod ...

  Providing Transport for 3G Wireless Network
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14095.php

White Rock Networks has announced that PPL Telcom has selected its
Transport and Multi-service Optical Access products to provide
backhaul capabilities to cell sites in the Northeast United States for
one of the nation's ...

  Mobile Music Downloads to reach $1.8 billion in Europe by 2010
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14096.php

According to a new report by the research provider, Generator,
Europeans will spend US$640 million in 2010 downloading full-track
songs to their mobile phones. With expenditure on real music ringtones
forecast to be an a ...

  Most Australians Are Still Clueless about 3G Mobile Technology
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14097.php

IDC's latest research into the Australian consumer mobile market
reveals that, in light of the looming nationwide introduction of 3G
services, the vast majority of Australians still have no clear idea
about 3G mobile tec ...


  Portuguese PrePay Usage Rises while Contracts Continue Falling
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14098.php

Portugal's telecoms regulator has reported that by the end of the
second quarter of 2005 there were 10.7 million mobile telephone
subscribers in the country, a growth in the total number of mobile
subscribers of 0.7% on ...

  Moves Towards Number Portability in Canada
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14099.php

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) has
submitted its plans for wireless number portability to the Canadian
government, following submissions to industry partners. The 64-page
report, completed by ...

  VoIP Subscriber Rush Spurs Equipment Boom
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14100.php

The ranks of residential Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) users are
expected to explode during the next few years, causing market revenue
for wireline VOIP equipment to more than triple between 2004 and 2010,
iSuppli ...


  A Military Use for 3G Networks
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14101.php

You can now get a portable 3G network in a box after 3Way Networks
chose London's bi-annual DSEi (Defence Systems & Equipment
International) trade fair for military types to launch of a
hand-portable UMTS network capable ...

  Vodafone Planning 15 New 3G handsets
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14102.php

Vodafone has announced an extensive range of phones to bring 3G
services to the mass market. The range of phones will be marketed in
the run up to Christmas and will be the best yet, offering smaller and
lighter phones, ...


  Lebanon's Investcom Mobile Co Plans IPOs In Dubai, London
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14086.php

Investcom said Saturday it intends to carry out two initial public
offerings by listing shares on exchanges in Dubai and London. ...

  New Zealand Watchdog To Probe Telecom Services For Extended Regulation
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14077.php

The Commerce Commission Friday said there are grounds to investigate
several services of Telecom Corp. of New Zealand Ltd. (NZT) to
ascertain whether the period of regulation should be extended. ...

  Samsung, Sprint Nextel In Wireless Broadband Equip Pact
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14078.php

Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE) said Friday it has signed an
agreement with Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) of the U.S. to provide testing
equipment for wireless broadband services. ...

  FCC To Provide $211 Million For Telecom In Gulf Coast
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14079.php

The Federal Communications Commission will make available $211 million
from the universal service subsidy fund to help restore communications
in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said
Thursda ...

  Deutsche Telekom Confirms Keeping T-Mobile USA Unit
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14080.php

Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) Friday confirmed it has decided to keep its
U.S. wireless arm, T-Mobile USA Inc. ...

  India's Space Agency:Boeing Ends Satellite Collaboration
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14081.php

BANGALORE, India (AP)--India's space agency said Friday that a
subsidiary of Boeing Co. (BA) has canceled an agreement to help
produce communication satellites. ...

  New German Discount Mobile Operator Pressures Peers
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14082.php

FRANKFURT (AP)--New discount mobile operator Blau.de is challenging
its rivals by offering significantly discounted rates on text messages
and calls to German networks, according to an announcement on the
compa ...

  Rogers,Bell Cda In JV To Build Wireless Broadband Network
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14083.php

Rogers Communications Inc. (RG) and Bell Canada have agreed to build
and manage a Canada-wide wireless broadband network and will jointly
and equally fund the initial network deployment costs, estimated at
C$200 million ...

  Denmark To Remove Mobile Telecom Regulation In Access Market
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14084.php

Denmark's National IT and Telecom Agency Friday said regulation in the
country's mobile access market can be removed, as competition is
working well in the market. ...

  Vodafone Not Involved In Afghan Mobile Licence Bid
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14085.php

Vodafone Group PLC (VOD), the U.K.-based mobile telecommunications
company, Friday said it wasn't involved in bidding for a license to
offer mobile telecoms services in Afghanistan. ...

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

From: kamlet@panix.com (Arthur Kamlet)
Subject: Re: Use of Bell Logo: Qwest? SBC?
Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 02:31:04 UTC
Organization: Public Access Networks Corp.
Reply-To: ArtKamlet@aol.REMOVE.com


In article <telecom24.426.4@telecom-digest.org>,
Allen Newman  <anewmanagn@excite.com> wrote:

> Trademarks must remain in use to remain legally protected, so I'm
> curious where and how Qwest ("my" Baby Bell) uses the Bell logo, if at
> all.  In most cases Qwest has eliminated it since merging with US
> West.  You can still make out the shadow of a Bell logo removed from
> the wall of a Qwest building in Ankeny, Iowa, for example.

> Last night on the way to a wedding reception I saw a Bell logo that
> Qwest hasn't gotten rid of: a wooden pay phone kiosk inside the south
> entrance of the Sioux Falls VFW Lounge still has a Bell sign on top,
> with the blue Bell logo to the left of the word "phone".  Except for
> Qwest signs tacked to the sides of the kiosk it looked a couple
> decades old.  Does Qwest affixing new signs without taking down the
> Bell sign count as current use for trademark purposes?  It seems
> better than the example Qwest filed with the USPTO in 2003, which was
> a couple photos of a US West payphone kiosk, which didn't even have
> the Qwest identity.

> Even without the logo, Qwest does try to connect less obviously to the
> Bell identity.  Its Dex phone book is still blue and gold, the Qwest
> logotype is in the Gill Sans font which has also been the corporate
> font of AT&T (although the Bell System used Helvetica), and their
> current slogan is "Spirit of Service", a long-time Bell System motto.
> Arguably, Qwest's blue swoosh logo echos the circular blue Bell logo
> -- or would, at least, clash with it if the Bell logo were also
> present.

> Has anyone ever seen an example of Qwest intentionally adding the Bell
> logo to anything anywhere?  I wonder what they'll come up with when
> their next trademark filing is due.

> The other RBOCs have filed their own claims of Bell logo usage:

> In 2002, SBC submitted a photo of a white service truck with blue and
> gold stripes and Southwestern Bell Telephone markings.  Do their
> trucks still look like that?  It's about as convincing as Qwest's US
> West phone booth.  It'll be interesting to learn what SBC does with
> branding after their purchase of AT&T.

> Also in 2002, Verizon submitted photos of new Verizon service trucks
> and pay phones featuring the Bell logo.  IMO Verizon has cleverly
> dealt with the Bell logo "problem", that is, keeping it alive and
> meaningful but not letting it compete with their own created identity.

> Finally, both of the Baby Bells that don't use the Bell logo
> themselves license Bell names and logos to equipment manufacturers.
> Qwest licenses Northwestern Bell to Unical and SBC licenses
> Southwestern Bell to Conair.  This despite Northwestern Bell and
> Southwestern Bell no longer being names Qwest or SBC use themselves,
> and the fact that while Qwest and SBC sell phone equipment on their
> websites, it's not their licensed Bell-branded equipment.

> Bell logo trademark registrations can be found by searching for design
> code 220324 260101 at the USPTO.

My recollection is that the 23 BOCs (Bell Operating Companies) that
merged into Seven RBOCs (Regional bell Operating Companies) on Jan 1
1984 retained the right to use the Bell System Logo, and AT&T lost
that right, and thus was born the present day - for a while longer -
or more if SBC adopts the AT&T name and perhaps logo, at least -- AT&T
deathstar.

But AT&T retained the right to use the Bell name, not logo, for Bell
Labs.

And the Telcordia company that was formed and jointly owned by the 7
RBOCs was allowed to retain the symbol and was named Bellcore.

Those 7 RBOCs morphed into the present 4, and Quest took over the
USWest rights to use the Bell Logo.  USWest retained Mountain Bell,
Pacific Northwest Bell.

I don't recall what the minority-owned Bells were allowed to do with
the logo, tough I assume they retainled that right.  But since SBC
bought out SNET so that's moot, and Cincinnati Bell was/is the only
remaining minority Bell. 


Art Kamlet     ArtKamlet @ AOL.com   Columbus OH    K2PZH

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: Use of Bell Logo: Qwest? SBC?
Date: 19 Sep 2005 06:57:29 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com


Verizon extensively uses its new colors and logo, but has the Bell
logo on the side of pay phone mounting.  On its bill advertising
inserts, it has "Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania" in fine print
at the bottom."  Even Bell in its last days abbreaviated that to "Bell
of Pennsylvania"

In the railroad world, hobbyists use logos on model trains and in
books.  Most railroad companies make a tiny effort to preserve legacy
logo rights even though they don't use them in practice anymore.  They
don't charge model makers, souvenir makers, or publishers royalty fees
for use.

However, the successor owner of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR
keystone logo) apparently let it lapse and a private entity snatched
it up.  This entity then began to demand royalties from all model
makers and publishers.  Since the Pennsy was a big well known
railroad, there are a great many books and models about it all using
the logo.  Somehow the successor owner was able to get the rights
back.

[public replies please]

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

From: Steven Lichter <shlichter@diespammers.com>
Reply-To: Die@spammers.com
Organization: I Kill Spammers, Inc.  (c) 2005 A Rot in Hell Co.
Subject: Re: Use of Bell Logo: Qwest? SBC?
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 21:00:26 GMT


Allen Newman wrote:

> Trademarks must remain in use to remain legally protected, so I'm
> curious where and how Qwest ("my" Baby Bell) uses the Bell logo, if at
> all.  In most cases Qwest has eliminated it since merging with US
> West.  You can still make out the shadow of a Bell logo removed from
> the wall of a Qwest building in Ankeny, Iowa, for example.

> Last night on the way to a wedding reception I saw a Bell logo that
> Qwest hasn't gotten rid of: a wooden pay phone kiosk inside the south
> entrance of the Sioux Falls VFW Lounge still has a Bell sign on top,
> with the blue Bell logo to the left of the word "phone".  Except for
> Qwest signs tacked to the sides of the kiosk it looked a couple
> decades old.  Does Qwest affixing new signs without taking down the
> Bell sign count as current use for trademark purposes?  It seems
> better than the example Qwest filed with the USPTO in 2003, which was
> a couple photos of a US West payphone kiosk, which didn't even have
> the Qwest identity.

> Even without the logo, Qwest does try to connect less obviously to the
> Bell identity.  Its Dex phone book is still blue and gold, the Qwest
> logotype is in the Gill Sans font which has also been the corporate
> font of AT&T (although the Bell System used Helvetica), and their
> current slogan is "Spirit of Service", a long-time Bell System motto.
> Arguably, Qwest's blue swoosh logo echos the circular blue Bell logo
>  -- or would, at least, clash with it if the Bell logo were also
> present.

> Has anyone ever seen an example of Qwest intentionally adding the Bell
> logo to anything anywhere?  I wonder what they'll come up with when
> their next trademark filing is due.

> The other RBOCs have filed their own claims of Bell logo usage:

> In 2002, SBC submitted a photo of a white service truck with blue and
> gold stripes and Southwestern Bell Telephone markings.  Do their
> trucks still look like that?  It's about as convincing as Qwest's US
> West phone booth.  It'll be interesting to learn what SBC does with
> branding after their purchase of AT&T.

> Also in 2002, Verizon submitted photos of new Verizon service trucks
> and pay phones featuring the Bell logo.  IMO Verizon has cleverly
> dealt with the Bell logo "problem", that is, keeping it alive and
> meaningful but not letting it compete with their own created identity.

> Finally, both of the Baby Bells that don't use the Bell logo
> themselves license Bell names and logos to equipment manufacturers.
> Qwest licenses Northwestern Bell to Unical and SBC licenses
> Southwestern Bell to Conair.  This despite Northwestern Bell and
> Southwestern Bell no longer being names Qwest or SBC use themselves,
> and the fact that while Qwest and SBC sell phone equipment on their
> websites, it's not their licensed Bell-branded equipment.

> Bell logo trademark registrations can be found by searching for design
> code 220324 260101 at the USPTO.

I believe that all their old names such as Northwestern Bell Telephone 
are still registered with the states in which they served as well as the 
US Copyright office.

I know that GTE is in California is still listed. And that was a 
non-Bell before the merger.

The only good spammer is a dead one!!  Have you hunted one down today?
(c) 2005  I Kill Spammers, Inc.  A Rot in Hell Co.

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

From: Isaiah Beard <sacredpoet@sacredpoet.com>
Subject: Re: BellSouth/AT&T New Orleans "Main" at Baronne & Poydras Streets
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 18:59:40 -0400
Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com


Paul Coxwell wrote:

> Off on a tangent somewhat, but is there any sort of numbering system
> applied to these modern ID numbers or is it more or less random
> allocation?

It's more or less random, and depends on the particular carrier's
prefernce for numebring schemes.  For example, MCI/Worldcom has a
different numbering schme for its major switches than AT&T or Sprint.

> I'm familiar with the old-style IDs such as "914-1" for White Plains
> etc., but I've never been able to figure out how the current system is
> supposed to work.

It doesn't work, really, and is actually becoming less and less
relevant as the network topology flattens.  The New Orleans 4ESS is
probably among the last of its breed, and I remember hearing that AT&T
removed a lot fo them from service long ago as they shifted towards a
decentralized network.

> For example, dialing into the NANP from the U.K. using an unallocated
> prefix within a valid area code often results in a "Your call cannot
> be completed as dialed" recording with an ID of "two" followed by two
> letters, e.g. 2BM.  Are these class 2 tandem offices?

No, those are MCI offices, and their equivalent of class 4 switches. 
(MCIWorldcom uses/used the NAA labeling system for their class 4 
switches, i.e. "2BM" "2CU" "2CX" etc.)  MCI is probably the last major 
carrier to have a hierarchical structure in place, as it's widely known 
that during the big telecom bubble that they helped create and then 
burst, they were too busy cooking their books to actually invest in 
restructuring and upgrading their network, and instead merely spent 
only the money they needed to keep it running at a semi-decent level. 
That practice continues to this day, pending the buyout of MCI by 
Verizon, at which time it becomes Verizon's headache.

> Does the network even still use the same class designations as in
> the past?

Only in vestigial references.  The Number 5 ESS is still around and
its reference is still used when operated as a class 5 end office, but
then you'll find lots of 5ESS (the model number, but not acting as the
class) performing tasks that resemble what a class 4 switch would do.

E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

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

From: Tony P. <kd1s@nospamplease.cox.reallynospam.net>
Subject: Re: You Need a New Computer
Organization: ATCC
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 22:29:43 -0400


In article <telecom24.426.10@telecom-digest.org>, messere@oswego.edu 
says...

> Pat:

> The explorer thing has been going on for some time.

> Time to look at a MAC ... better operating system and more fun too.

> Fritz Messere
> Communication Studies Department
> Chair and Professor of Broadcasting and Telecommunications
> State University of New York at Oswego
> (office) 315.312.2357        (fax) 315.312.5658
> http://www.oswego.edu/~messere
> 
> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If anyone has an older Apple MACintosh,
> I'd not mind giving that a try and see where I could get with it. The
> other thing I have considered -- but have not yet been brave enough to
> try is to go with Linux on the laptop. You see, on my larger desktop
> computer I have Red Hat Linux (version 7 something) on a partition;
> when I boot the larger machine, it defaults to Linux _unless_ I tell
> it to go to Win 2000 instead. I'd not mind going entirely with Linux
> if I were assured I could get some of my software working correctly. I
> do NOT need chat windows and all that; but I do need to have X-Windows
> working correctly. Ditto with any MAC, which would also be a new
> experience for me. I'd like to be able to get a couple cameras working
> with no hassles, something similar to to XWindows, and the network
> configurations correct, etc. And I have seen a couple commercials on
> television for Dell, with desktop prices of around $499, but I know
> those would most likely be Win XP, which is okay, I suppose. But with
> Dell, the new laptops seem to cost more.  Good ideas, in any case.  If
> anyone wants to contribute to a 'computer fund' please remember the
> PayPal account:   editor@telecom-digest.org , or if you have some
> older machine you no longer want donations will also be gratefully 
> accepted.   PAT] 

Not to make this a Mac vs. PC thing but here's a little story.

Had to price out new machines including laptops. High end Latitude
with 1.5GB of RAM and 100GB HD - $1,599.

Apple 12" Powerbook G4 with a gig of RAM, 60GB HD - $1,899

That's with goverment's discounts btw. 

Instead -- get a PC and download Firefox 1.06 (Deer Park). Then go and 
find the following extensions:

adblock
bugmenot
popupsdie

You'd be surprise how much more a pleasure it is to surf the web less
pop-up's.

AdBlock dialog comes up and asks you if you want to block the ad you
just right clicked on. It also supports wildcards for the more
egregious of ad servers. Put it this way, I don't see ad's on
Projo.com anymore because between AdBlock and me pointing Belo's
adserver to 0.0.0.0 it eliminates every last one of the suckers.

ButMeNot is also a pretty handy tool. When you run across a news site
that requires registration just right click the username field and
select BugMeNot. It reaches out to a BugMeNot server, looks for a
username/password combo for that web address and pastes it in. Some
sites lock out pasting into their username/password fields. Example of
that is Belo owned papers like Projo.com

Popupsdie turns on the options for very restrictive pop-ups thought
some sites such as the New York Times have figured out how to get
around this.

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

From: Tony P. <kd1s@nospamplease.cox.reallynospam.net>
Subject: Re: Record Labels Sue Baidu for Copyright Infringement
Organization: ATCC
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 22:30:55 -0400


In article <telecom24.426.3@telecom-digest.org>, reuters@telecom-
digest.org says:

> The four largest record companies have sued Baidu.com Inc. for
> copyright infringement, alleging the Chinese Internet search engine
> has been illegally providing links to free digital music downloads,
> according to a trade group the represents the music industry.

I wonder what part of the fact that U.S. law doesn't apply in China
thee folks aren't getting.

The overreaching by the RIAA is astounding. 

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: Roaming Charges
Date: 19 Sep 2005 07:14:51 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com


Ken Abrams wrote:

> Won't happen.  The call would be dropped.  AFAIK, a change from "home"
> to "roam" means you are changing carriers.  Calls in progress are NOT
> passed or handed-off from one company to another.  (It appears that
> they usually can't even pass from one tower to another within a
> company.)

In earlier days of cell phones, I don't think it was so much going to
another carrier, but rather going out of your personal defined service
territory with your calling plan.  In other words, it wasn't a
technical or physical boundary, but an adminstrative or billing one.

For instance, I have Verizon (nee Bell Atlantic-Nynex).  Even under
Bell Atlantic there was a huge service territory of several states,
but phones were limited to a specific metropolitan area.  Size of that
area varied by your calling plan (as did the cost of roaming).  So, in
most cases it wasn't a matter of leaving your carrier, but rather
leaving your home area.  They had some $15/month plans that were
limited to about a single county.

Since roaming for me was so expensive, I was careful not to roam, so I
don't know how the plan handled split calls.  If I attempted a call on
roaming, a yellow light would blink on my phone.

I found that near the border of my roaming area I have to be careful.
For example, at a particular rest stop on the turnpike, sometimes I'll
roam (and pay) and sometimes not.  This is because even from a fixed
physical spot, multiple antennas in different places could handle your
call.  Even on calls from my front stoop the bill shows three
different antennas at different times.

Obviously a disadvantage of my cheap plan ($19.95/mon) is limited
roaming and expensive fees ($1/min) if I do.  Today's $40/mon plans
have much bigger roaming areas, but you're paying for that in the
monthly fee.  For an occassional user like myself, my plan works best
for me and I'll pay the $1/min in the very rare times I have to.


[public replies, please]

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

Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 17:10:53 -0400
From: William Warren <william_warren_nonoise@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: When it Rains, it Pours  ....


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: On the older Think Pads (models 770
> or 770x at least) F1 at time of booting brings up a BIOS menu and a
> choice of options i.e. boot from CD, from hard drive, from floppy
> (and other choices I do not understand, such as from 'network', from
> 'PCMCIA card' and other places. Exactly how one boots from 'network'
> or from 'PCMCIA card' when those devices do not come to life until
> Windows turns them on confuses me. [snip]  PAT]


Pat,

It's asking if you want to start a bootp request from your Ethernet
card, which would broadcast for a "boot" server to provide the
operating system for you over the network.

In other words, it's giving you the option that's used for "Diskless
Workstations", which don't have a hard disk, to download your OS from
another network node and start it in memory. It's the same process
your BIOS performs during boot, except that the image that's loaded
into your machine's ram comes from another computer on your LAN, not
from your hard drive.

Bootp is one of the core protocols from the early days of the
internet, when disk drives were too expensive to be installed in every
workstation, and they had to be able to leverage the common disk drive
storage available on a central server just to get their operating
system started.

Believe it or not, it's gaining in popularity again, but this time for
public-access or school computers that are prone to misuse. With BOOTP
machines, curing a virus or adware or whatever is as simple as turning
the machine off and back on, and the clients I've set up this way
always swear they'll never go back.

HTH.

William

(Filter noise from my address for direct replies)


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But I still do not understand _how_
the network card, or PCMCIA or whatever is able to do that job without
first itself getting installed by (for example) Windows or whatever OS
is in the terminal/workstation. I mean, that would be great if I could
just turn on the laptop and have its OS installed by the desktop Win
2000. But how?   PAT]

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

From: Steven Lichter <shlichter@diespammers.com>
Reply-To: Die@spammers.com
Organization: I Kill Spammers, Inc.  (c) 2005 A Rot in Hell Co.
Subject: Motorola Bag phone
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 21:05:59 GMT


I have one of these.  Don't use it at all; it is not digital.

Pretty good condition, no battery with it, just pugs in to lighter in a 
car.  It was on BellSouth Mobility, but with you try to use it it says 
it is not registered with Verizon.

If someone wants to pay me to pack it up and ship it to them, let me 
know, I can send pictures if you like.


The only good spammer is a dead one!!  Have you hunted one down today?
(c) 2005  I Kill Spammers, Inc.  A Rot in Hell Co.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I certainly have the required power
supply even though I do not have a car/cigarette lighter.  I wonder
how it would work on Cingular Wireless here in Kansas?   PAT]

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


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