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TELECOM Digest Tue, 1 Nov 2005 13:46:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 497 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Man Arrested in Phishing Phraud (Associated Press News Wire) Hackers Use Bird Flu Virus to Spread Computer Virus (Reuters News Wire) Lance Armstrong Wins Cybersquatting Case (Reuters News Wire) SBC Revises Rates on High Speed Internet (Reuters News Wire) Work is Grueling at FEMA Call Center (Sheila Flynn) Bell South Likes To Go it Alone (Joseph) Cellular-News for Tuesday 1st November 2005 (Cellular-News) Halloween on the Hill (Monty Solomon) FCC Greenlights Telco Mergers (USTA Daily Lead) Re: Old Chicago Numbering (Tony P.) Re: Old Chicago Numbering (Jim Stewart) Re: Los Angeles Numbering, 1940s (Steven Lichter) Re: Phone Shown in 'Capote' / RJ Connector History (fgoodwin) Re: Phone Shown in 'Capote' / RJ Connector History (Brad Houser) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Associated Press News Wire <ap@telecom-digest.org> Subject: Man Sentenced in Phishing Phraud Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 10:42:06 -0600 A British man was sentenced to four years in jail Tuesday for masterminding a "phishing" fraud which stole identities and bank details from customers of the eBay auction site. Prosecutors said David Levi, 29, of Lytham, England, led a six-man gang that stole nearly 200,000 pounds (US$360,000) from more than 160 people. They sent e-mails to eBay customers, pretending to be from eBay, asking for bank details. Other gang members were sentenced to jail terms ranging from six months to two years. "This was a coordinated and sophisticated fraud which took place over a 12-month period which required a determined and calculated approach," said Judge Phillip Sycamore, presiding in Preston Crown Court. "A large number of people lost a significant amount of money, and it is quite apparent that the use of a fraudulent eBay site was quite sophisticated," Sycamore said. Levi, who was already serving a sentence for drug offenses, was sentenced three years for fraud and one year for perverting the course of justice, to be served consecutively. His brother Guy Levi, 22, was jailed for 21 months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud. Daniel Lett, 22, was sentenced to two years for conspiracy to defraud. Derek Anderson, 59, Chris Worden, 23, Craig Jameson, 31, and Gareth Rice, 22, were each jailed for six months on money laundering charges. 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. ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org> Subject: Hackers Use Bird Flu Virus to Spread Computer Virus Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 10:43:30 -0600 Computer hackers are exploiting fears over bird flu by releasing a computer virus attached to an email passing itself off as containing avian flu information, warned Spanish computer firm Panda Software. The virus Naiva.A masquerades as a word document with email subject lines such as "Outbreak in North America" and "What is avian influenza (bird flu)?," said the firm on its Web site http://www.pandasoftware.com . When the file is opened, the virus modifies, creates and delete files. A second part of the virus installs a program that allows hackers to gain remote control of infected computers. The firm said the virus can not spread on its own but needs to be manually distributed via email, Internet downlaods or file transfers. "They fake the email header so it looks like it comes from somewhere that's authoritative," Australian computer security specialist Allan Bell said on Tuesday. It is from the 'government' urging your cooperation . Bell said he had no reports of the virus in Australia. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org> Subject: Lance Armstrong Wins Cybersquatting Case Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 10:40:00 -0600 The Lance Armstrong Foundation, a Texas-based charity set up by the American cycling champion to raise funds for cancer research, on Tuesday won the right to evict cybersquatters from websites selling LIVESTRONG bracelets. Two rulings ordering a California-based operator to transfer three disputed domain names were handed down by a panel of arbitrators appointed by the U.N.'s World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). CSA Marketing and Chris Angeles registered the domain names, and in late 2004, offering the popular bracelets at commercial profit in "bad faith," the rulings said. "There is nothing, in short, to persuade the panel that the registration and use of the domain names was anything other than opportunistic and abusive conduct...," the arbitrators said. The Austin-based Armstrong foundation, set up in 1997 by the cancer survivor and seven-time Tour de France winner, registered the LIVESTRONG trademark in New York state in 2004 and has two pending federal trademark applications, according to the ruling. The non-profit group has sold more than 50 million LIVESTRONG bracelets to heighten awareness about cancer survivorship and raise money for its charitable programmes. Under WIPO's low-cost, fast-track procedure, ownership of a domain name is transferred within 10 days unless the loser launches a court case challenging the decision. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org> Subject: SBC Revises High-Speed Internet Pricing Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 10:41:01 -0600 SBC Communications Inc. said on Monday it was revamping prices for its high-speed Internet services, cutting most regular monthly rates to lure more customers onto higher-speed lines. The moves come after SBC, the No. 2 U.S telecommunications company, launched a $14.95-per-month promotion for its digital subscriber line service earlier this year, aiming to convert dial-up Internet users and grab more customers than cable competitors. SBC said starting Tuesday, its basic high-speed Internet service with download speeds of up to 1.5 megabits will sell for $16.99 per month for the first six months. After six months, SBC will charge $29.99 a month, down from its previous charge of $49.95 per month after the first year of service. For its higher grade service offering download speeds of up to 3 megabits per second, SBC cut its introductory price by $3 to $21.99, and cut the regular monthly charge by $25 to $34.99. <i>The offers are available only to new customers, and require users to buy SBC telephone service.</i> Cable high-speed Internet services from providers such as Comcast Corp. typically run from $35 to 45 per month, but also offer faster downloads than DSL lines. SBC added a record 528,000 DSL subscribers in the third quarter, bringing its total to 6.5 million. The company considers DSL subscribers key to its plans to launch subscription television services widely next year. 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. ------------------------------ From: Sheila Flynn <ap@telecom-digest.org> Subject: Work is Grueling at FEMA Call Center Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 10:38:02 -0600 By SHEILA FLYNN, Associated Press Writer Some hurricane victims tearfully call Evelyn Simmons from motel rooms, out of money and hope, begging for any kind of help she can provide from the federal call center where she works. Some angrily demand quicker assistance and less bureaucracy. Some have even told Simmons' colleagues they're considering suicide. "They're helpless, and you can't get to them," she said. The hopelessness lingers for Simmons, 57, and her co-workers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency center long after the callers hang up. The already stressful job has became even more grueling in recent months as hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma smashed into the country in an eight-week span. As many as 73,000 calls could come in on any given day at the four call centers FEMA has set up. The call centers usually work round-the-clock shifts during disasters, helping to temporarily house people and assist with aid applications. But those crisis hours are normally short-lived, as victims return to their homes to patch up damaged property and lives, said applicant services manager Phyllis Paton. This time there's been no let up. Katrina hit on Aug. 29, displacing an estimated 1.5 million and causing more than $34 billion in damage. As call center operators struggled to assist those evacuees, Hurricane Rita roared ashore on Sept. 24 -- sparking an exodus of approximately 3 million more people. "I've never seen anything like it," said Paton, who has worked for FEMA since 1983. "This disaster's very, very strange, because normally, the disaster occurs, then they go back." Many FEMA workers had been working 12-hour shifts, 12 days in a row, when Wilma hit Florida on Oct. 24. "When they saw Wilma coming, it was heartbreaking," Paton said. "They were begging for two days in a row off before they had to kick it up again. The stress level out here is unbelievable." The Denton center's 1,261 workers now are breaking up their time among three eight-hour shifts each day. FEMA tries to give employees time off after six days worked, Paton said. Calls are handled by 350 workers on each shift, and the center has hired a temp agency to fill empty chairs. The limited time off and excessive hours have taken their toll. Simmons said she didn't even have enough time to see her 19-year-old granddaughter before she shipped out to Iraq with the Army. "That kind of got next to me," said Simmons, who has worked at the FEMA center for 13 years. Paton said she's also seen the hurricanes' effect on her family. Her husband is calling himself a "disaster widower," and her grandson has become "grumpy" and withdrawn in her absence. There's been plenty of stress at the office too. Hurricane evacuees -- more than 250,000 of whom relocated to Texas -- have shown up at the building's gate, demanding help. Paton said particularly dramatic calls during the storms have prompted outbursts of emotion on the floor, with callers "screaming and my folks screaming, and everybody's crying." Stress counselors are available on each shift, and workers are also entitled to six free counseling sessions. There is no way to record how many take advantage of the offer because the sessions are anonymous, Paton said. But those counselors may not be enough, said Dr. Alan LaGrone, associate professor of psychiatry at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. With such intense exposure to workplace stress, the FEMA employees could develop "a secondary trauma themselves from listening to traumatic stories all day," he said. Such an occurrence is usually seen in therapists dealing with war-torn or horrified communities, but LaGrone said the prolonged drama of the hurricanes could engender the condition in call operators. "My hypothesis is that people from a call center may develop something similar to that, partly exacerbated by the fact that they may feel powerless to help," he said. On the Net: http://www.fema.gov 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. ------------------------------ From: Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com> Subject: Bell South Likes To Go it Alone Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 06:19:03 -0800 Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com By Leslie Cauley, USA TODAY ATLANTA Last winter, BellSouth CEO Duane Ackerman passed yet again on a chance to turn his company into a global player. The invitation came from his old friend and business partner, SBC CEO Ed Whitacre. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/business/2005-10-31-bellsouth-mergers_x.htm [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For more headlines each day from USA Today, please go to http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/internet-news.html PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Tuesday 1st November 2005 Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 08:23:39 -0600 From: Cellular-News <dailydigest@cellular-news-mail.com> Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com Telenor Buys Vodafone Sweden http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14640.php Vodafone has agreed to sell its 100% interest in Vodafone Sweden to Telenor, the pan-Nordic telecommunications operator. Vodafone Sweden is being sold for an Enterprise Value of US$1.25 billion, implying an Enterprise Value to EBITDA multiple of 11x ... Vodafone Launches 3G in Australia http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14639.php Vodafone Australia switched on its 3G network yesterday. Vodafone's 3G services are available in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra metropolitan areas and at airports in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The network will continue... Second GSM Operator for Palestine http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14638.php The Palestinian Authority is understood to have asked for additional frequencies to be released so that a second GSM network operator can be established in the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinian Authority Minister of Communications Sabri Saidm has asked... Expanding Egyptian Operator Capacity http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14637.php Tekelec has announced a multi-million dollar deal with the Egypt's Mobinil to deploy significant capacity extensions to the Tekelec EAGLE 5 Signalling Application System (SAS) and Integrated Application Solution (IAS) monitoring platform. The extensi... RIM Takes New European HQ http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14636.php Slough Estates has let a flagship office development on the Slough Trading Estate in the south-east UK, to Research in Motion (RIM), the company behind the BlackBerry mobile communication device. In a transaction that represents one of the largest Th... Two New 3G Handsets for Vodafone Germany http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14635.php Samsung has launched two new 3G phones with Vodafone Germany. The two clamshell phones are lightweight at only 110 and 105 grams respectively, and they incorporate a comprehensive range of first-rate features at attractive prices.... Selling Ringtones in Retail Stores http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14634.php Nokia has introduced the Nokia Local Content Channel Solution, CoolZone, that is a Bluetooth based end-to-end solution for distributing digital content to consumers' phones in retail locations. With CoolZone, retailers like music stores, phone shops ... World's First 3G Single Core Modem for Mobile Phones http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14633.php Freescale Semiconductor has unveiled its 3G single core modem processor, at the heart of the MXC300-30 platform, based on the Mobile eXtreme Convergence architecture. Freescale says that it is the first to provide a single core modem for third genera... Virgin Taps Emblaze for Xmas Handset http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14632.php Emblaze Mobile has announced an agreement which will see its handsets available to the UK arm of Virgin Mobile. The advanced Sting 6 device is especially customised for the 16-24 group age with top features and attractive pricing at below 80.... 3G Body Approves TD-SCDMA Standard http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14631.php China's ZTE Corp. says that a TD-SCDMA standard, TR 34.943, has been approved by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as one of the 3G mobile communications standards. The standard was promoted and drafted by ZTE together with Datang Mobile ... Kyrgyz court cancels decision upholding Alfa's right on Bitel http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14630.php Kyrgyzstan's Bishkek City Court has cancelled an earlier issued court ruling upholding Russia's Alfa Group ownership right to Kyrgyzstan's Bitel mobile operator, Bitel's press office said Monday. ... Sprint Enters Turf Of ITunes, Napster With Song Downloads http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14629.php Sprint Nextel Corp.'s new direct music download service for mobile phones treads on turf previously dominated by online music stores. ... KPN: Counter Bid For O2 "Is Out Of The Question" http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14628.php A counter bid by Dutch incumbent telecommunications operator Royal KPN NV (KPN) for U.K. mobile operator O2 PLC, is "out of the question," KPN spokesman Marinus Potman said Monday. ... Phone Industry Fails To Stop Lawsuits Over Radiation http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14627.php The cellular-phone industry Monday failed to stop proceedings in several state class-action lawsuits over whether radiation emitted by cellphones is harmful to consumers who use them. ... Russia's MegaFon to give free phones in M.Video's Moscow stores http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14626.php Russia's third largest mobile operator MegaFon plans to give free mobile handsets to subscribers in M.Video stores in Moscow, MegaFon said in a statement Monday. ... FOCUS: Deutsche Telekom Loses In Telefonica Play For O2 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14625.php [Premium] Deutsche Telekom AG Chief Executive Kai-Uwe Ricke may have had better starts to his week. ... LONDON MARKETS: O2, Virgin Mobile Surge In London http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14624.php ondon shares were boosted by gains from mobile phone operators on Monday, with O2 leading the sector after it received a 17.7 billion pound bid from Spain's Telefonica. ... Israeli Min In Political Appointments At Telecom Probe http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14623.php JERUSALEM (AP)--Israel's Attorney General Meni Mazuz has opened an investigation into allegations Vice Premier Ehud Olmert -- to be appointed Finance Minister later Monday -- made political appointments in Israel's main telephone company when he was co... UPDATE: Telefonica To Buy O2 For $31.5 Billion http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14622.php Spain's Telefonica SA on Monday agreed to buy British mobile phone operator O2 for $31.5 billion, continuing a wave of consolidation in the European telecommunications industry. ... Ericsson Gets Order To Supply GSM Network In Uruguay http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14621.php Sweden's Ericsson Monday said it received an order from Telefonica Moviles S.A.'s operator in Uruguay, Movistar Uruguay, to supply a GSM transmission network. ... Samsung Elec Supplies 3G Mobile Handsets To Sprint Nextel http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14620.php Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday it began supplying third-generation mobile handsets based on the EV-DO network to U.S-based Sprint Nextel. ... BSkyB Launches Sky Mobile TV With Vodafone UK http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14619.php Vodafone U.K. and British Sky Broadcasting (Sky) announced Monday an agreement to launch a mobile TV service in the U.K. ... Telefonica Buys O2 For GBP17.7 Billion In Cash Deal http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14618.php Telefonica, the Spanish incumbent telecommunications operator, Monday said it has agreed to buy O2 PLC, the U.K. mobile telecoms company, for GBP17.7 billion in cash. ... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 12:56:03 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Halloween on the Hill Halloween on the Hill If you would like to join our jamboree There's a simple rule that's compulsory Mortals pay a token fee Rest in peace; the haunting's free - The Crypt, Disney's The Haunted Mansion Halloween is traditionally the time when the undead walk; preposterous monstrosities that no-one could imagine living stumble and moan through the land. So guess what the entertainment industry decided to dust off for an extra spooky session with the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday? Why, yes, they are bringing the broadcast flag. And, certainly, there is talk of their henchmen at the RIAA clumsily re-animating their insane digital radio requirements. But that's not spooky enough for the MPAA. For their party trick this year, they want to take one of the most basic and ubiquitous components in multimedia, and encase it within a pile of legally-enforced, complex, and patented proprietary technology - forever. Ladies and gentlemen, the MPAA have chosen Halloween week to resurrect their most misconceived monster ever: the Thing from the Analog Hole. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004106.php [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And what better way, following Halloween to introduce it than on November 1, All Saints Day, to illustrate the fact that they are all saints in their dealing with the public. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 12:49:11 EST From: USTelecom dailyLead <ustelecom@dailylead.com> Subject: FCC Greenlights Telco Mergers USTelecom dailyLead November 1, 2005 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/xjBoatagCvzqcNLMAH TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * FCC greenlights telco mergers BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * MSOs pact with Sprint Nextel * Motorola drops lawsuit against Nortel CEO * Analysis: Telefonica-O2 merger would shake up global telecom industry * BellSouth charts its own course * Private-equity group inks deal to buy Cox assets * PMC-Sierra snaps up former Agilent unit * SBC alters pricing for broadband options * Qwest reports earnings USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * USTelecom Member Special - 25% off TMW Dallas registration TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * New wireless communications protocol designed for travelers REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Michigan county launches wireless Internet project * Qwest settles shareholder lawsuits for $400M Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/xjBoatagCvzqcNLMAH ------------------------------ From: Tony P. <kd1s.nospam@nospam.cox.nosapm.net> Subject: Re: Old Chicago Numbering Organization: Ace Tomato and Cement Co. Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 18:43:17 -0500 In article <telecom24.493.9@telecom-digest.org>, jsw@ivgate.omahug.org says: > Ma Bell (sorry, old habit) had 'standard builds' for large metro > offices and seemed to follow them quite consistently over the years. > Their upgrades seemed to follow these patterns: > Panel -> 5Xb > Panel -> ESS > 1Xb -> ESS > 5Xb -> ESS > and, of course, > SxS -> ESS (mostly CDO, PBX, etc.) > We won't even talk about the 101ESS. <big snotty grin> Providence, RI went from Panel to ESS. It had to have been around 1972 or so since we'd moved from a location in the city that only had rotary dial service to one that had DTMF and the definite ESS call progress tones. I do recall that they really stretched out the cutovers. My grandparents house in Providence still had the old style call progress tones indicating they were still on the Panel until 1975 or so. The CO for most of Providence is a huge building -- at least 14 floors that were once filled with switching gear. Now it's just the 4th floor. The rest of the building is offices. I do recall moving from Providence, RI to North Providence, RI and being stuck on the #5 Xbar serving Pawtucket. It was a fun machine what with its loopbacks, etc. When they cut to the #5 ESS it was like losing an old friend. In article <telecom24.494.6@telecom-digest.org>, Wesrock@aol.com says: > In a message dated Sun, 30 Oct 2005 14:21:21 CST, jsw@ivgate.omahug.org > writes: >> Very seldom did Ma Bell use SxS for large metropolitan installations. >> They seemed to prefer remaining with manual service until they could >> install 'machine switching' using Panel or later 1Xb. > "Very seldom"? How about Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Tulsa, > Oklahoma City and, of course, much of the Los Angeles area. > Undoubtedly true of many other places as well.. > All those had been completely converted to dial by the early 1930s, > perhaps in the 1920s. The first dial office in Oklahoma City was cut > over in early 1921 (using Automatic Electric SxS equipment; Bell Labs > and W.E. had not yet recognized there was a need for such equipment. > The remainder of the city was converted to dial in 1927 or 1928...by > this time with W.E. SxS equipmenmt. I think the remainder of the > cities mentioned in Texas and Oklahoma had a similar history. > The first XBs in Southwestern Bell territory outside of Kansas City > and St. Louis were 5XBs in smaller towns converting to dial. The > first 5XB in Oklahoma City was the SKyline office, now 751, which > happens to still serve where I live (now ESS of course). > One of the first installations of 5XB in the Los Angeles area was by > the Sunland-Tujunga Telephone Company. > 1XB, of course, was intended to be use in metropolitan areas that were > panel. As originally configured it used on panel-type revertive > pulsing -- even when one 1XB office was communication with another 1XB > office. It had no provision for communicating with step equipment, > which is why the 1XB installations in Southwestern Bell territory were > limited to St. Louis and Kansas City. Even the 5XB understood revertive pulsing. Some of them ended up as minor toll tandems for the remaining Panel switches in an area. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 16:17:24 -0800 From: Jim Stewart <jstewart@jkmicro.com> Reply-To: jstewart@jkmicro.com Organization: http://www.jkmicro.com Subject: Re: Old Chicago Numbering > Conversion from manual to dial was by no means an indicator of how > "busy" an exchange was. There were other factors as well. As > mentioned in another post, it was practical for Bell to have manual > pay telephones in some resorts into the 1970s. Plenty of busy small > towns had manual as late as 1962, probably requiring a huge > switchboard. In thinking about two towns I know of, I realize they > might have been busy during the day, but virtually empty overnight. My hometown, Cle Elum, Washington, was cut over from manual to SxS in the summer of 1966. Much of my present interest in electronics and telco equipment can be traced back to that summer. I spent many hours watching the WE techs install the switch and I carted home vast piles of scrap to play with. I was about 14 at the time. Anyone traveling on Interstate 90 through Washington might be interested in stopping at the telephone museum in Cle Elum. It's in the orginal manual exchange building and it was the labor of one local woman to preserve as much of the manual system and equipment as possible. ------------------------------ 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: Los Angeles Numbering, 1940s Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 04:21:00 GMT Tim@Backhome.org wrote: > Steven Lichter wrote: >> 60's when the changes were made. I started with CWT/GTE in 1967 and >> they were already changed and using 48/53 Full Satt. > Wasn't 1967 the year that then General Telephone of California bought > CWT (California Water and Telephone for you lurkers; aka "Cal Drip and > Tinkle." ;-) > I grew up in Monrovia, a CWT town. We didn't get automatic dialing > until 1950, as I recall. CWT for a year or so was part of The General System, then in 1967 they integrated it with General Telephone of California. But even though it was merged into the California company it functioned on its own until 1969. The California standards were only partly used by CWT, they pretty much used WE standards. I went to Nuts and Bolts school, in Walnut, but when I came back to San Fernando after school, my boss told me to forget must of what I had learned. We were still using the WE cable with some Stromberg cable. The color code was a bit different. I was a C.O. Installer the full 30 years I was with them. When I retired we were a different company, with different standards. It has even changed more now under Verizon. I have done contract work in Washington, Oregon and California over the last few years, it is really a different world. Boy I miss the old SXS days, all that noise and so simple to work on. If you had a problem, it would not effect the whole office unless it was in the Satt systems, now you edit data and you can take down the whole office and any others down stream. 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: fgoodwin <fgoodwin@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Phone Shown in 'Capote' / RJ Connector History Date: 1 Nov 2005 07:39:45 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com There was a scene in a 70s SF movie (may have been "THX-1138" or "Colossus the Forbin Project") in which the protagonist escapes into a huge "computer". The scene was actually shot inside a telco CO! ------------------------------ From: Brad Houser <bradDOThouser@intel.com> Subject: Re: Phone Shown in 'Capote' / RJ Connector History Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 09:03:36 -0800 Organization: Intel Corporation C_shore wrote: >> I hate sloppy history in movie props. Were RJ connectors in use in 66? >> This could be the worst film/phone mistake since a movie (sorry I >> forgot the name) that showed an actor using a Pacific Bell pay phone >> in New York City some years back. It was Dulles International (Washington, DC) and the film was Die Hard 2. Brad Houser ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. 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