TELECOM Digest     Wed, 28 Dec 2005 23:55:00 EST    Volume 24 : Issue 586

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    NSA Puts Cookies on Your Computer (Anick Jendanun)
    China Gets Tough on Cell Phone Users (Reuters News Wire)
    Man Pleads Guilty in Computer Attack on E-Bay (Reuters News Wire)
    Hospitals, was: Unanswered Calls to Cell Phones? (Danny Burstein)
    Marriott Customer Data For 200,000 Missing (Monty Solomon)
    Nerds in the Hood, Stars on the Web (Monty Solomon)
    Re: Cell Phone Extenders? (aes)
    Re: Mother Decides to Fight Downloading Suit on Her Own (Lisa Hancock)
    Re: Cell Phone Extenders? (John Levine)
    Re: Payphone Surcharges (was: Unanswered Cellphones) (Seth Breidbart)
    Re: What Carriers Does Vonage Use to Terminate Calls? (Gabe)
    Re: Physically Protecting The Local Loop Network? (Steven Lichter)

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: Anick Jesdanun <ap@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: NSA Puts Cookies on Your Computer
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2005 21:22:38 -0600


By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer

The National Security Agency's Internet site has been placing files on
visitors' computers that can track their Web surfing activity despite
strict federal rules banning most of them.

The first thing they do is examine your computer to see where you have
been, according to other cookies. Then they implant a cookie of their
own. 

These files, known as "cookies," disappeared after a privacy activist
complained and The Associated Press made inquiries this week, and
agency officials acknowledged Wednesday they had made a mistake.
Nonetheless, the issue raises questions about privacy at a spy agency
already on the defensive amid reports of a secretive eavesdropping
program in the United States.

"Considering the surveillance power the NSA has, cookies are not
exactly a major concern," said Ari Schwartz, associate director at the
Center for Democracy and Technology, a privacy advocacy group in
Washington, D.C. "But it does show a general lack of understanding
about privacy rules when they are not even following the government's
very basic rules for Web privacy."

Until Tuesday, the NSA site created two cookie files that do not
expire until 2035 -- likely beyond the life of any computer in use
today.

Don Weber, an NSA spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday that the
cookie use resulted from a recent software upgrade. Normally, the site
uses temporary, permissible cookies that are automatically deleted
when users close their Web browsers, he said, but the software in use
shipped with persistent cookies already on.

"After being tipped to the issue, we immediately disabled the
cookies," he said.

Cookies are widely used at commercial Web sites and can make Internet
browsing more convenient by letting sites remember user
preferences. For instance, visitors would not have to repeatedly enter
passwords at sites that require them.

But privacy advocates complain that cookies can also track Web surfing,
even if no personal information is actually collected.

In a 2003 memo, the White House's Office of Management and Budget
prohibits federal agencies from using persistent cookies -- those that
aren't automatically deleted right away -- unless there is a
"compelling need."

A senior official must sign off on any such use, and an agency that
uses them must disclose and detail their use in its privacy policy.

Peter Swire, a Clinton administration official who had drafted an
earlier version of the cookie guidelines, said clear notice is a must,
and `vague assertions of national security, such as exist in the NSA
policy, are not sufficient."

Daniel Brandt, a privacy activist who discovered the NSA cookies, said
mistakes happen, "but in any case, it's illegal. The (guideline)
doesn't say anything about doing it accidentally."

The Bush administration has come under fire recently over reports it
authorized NSA to secretly spy on e-mail and phone calls without court
orders.

Since The New York Times disclosed the domestic spying program earlier
this month, President Bush has stressed that his executive order
allowing the eavesdropping was limited to people with known links to
al-Qaida.

But on its Web site Friday, the Times reported that the NSA, with help
from American telecommunications companies, obtained broader access to
streams of domestic and international communications.

The NSA's cookie use is unrelated, and Weber said it was strictly to
improve the surfing experience "and not to collect personal user
data."

Richard M. Smith, a security consultant in Cambridge, Mass., questions
whether persistent cookies would even be of much use to the NSA. They
are great for news and other sites with repeat visitors, he said, but
the NSA's site does not appear to have enough fresh content to warrant
more than occasional visits.

The government first issued strict rules on cookies in 2000 after
disclosures that the White House drug policy office had used the
technology to track computer users viewing its online anti-drug
advertising. Even a year later, a congressional study found 300
cookies still on the Web sites of 23 agencies.

In 2002, the CIA removed cookies it had inadvertently placed at one of
its sites after Brandt called it to the agency's attention.

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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at
http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or)
http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html

For more news from Associated Press please go to:
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html

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

From: Reuters News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: China Gets Tough on Cellphone Fraud and Spam
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2005 21:24:21 -0600


China will require all mobile phone subscribers to register using
their real names next year, in a bid to curb rampant spam and growing
fraud conducted over mobile services, the official Xinhua news agency
said.

The much talked-about move is mainly aimed at users of prepaid
cellphone accounts, which can be opened easily by anyone with cash and
a handset.  These accounts have no monthly fee, but instead are
"charged up" using prepaid cards and used until the credit runs out.

The new rules, similar to those already introduced in countries such
as Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand and Malaysia, will require China's
200 million users of prepaid service -- more than half the nation's
total 388 million subscribers -- to register using their real names,
according to Xinhua.

Such registration has sparked protests from operators such as China
Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd. and China Unicom Ltd. who complain the shift
will require a mountain of extra paperwork. Others say it will impose
on individuals' privacy.

The move is aimed at curtailing a burgeoning tide of cellphone-related
fraud and spam, most conducted over cellphones using text messaging,
Xinhua quoted Wang Xudong, head of China's Ministry of Information
Industry, as saying.

Chinese mobile users sent a whopping 274 billion text messages in the
first 11 months of this year, up 26 percent from all of last year,
according to official data.

China's phone companies have shut down more than 10,000 accounts this
year for sending illegal messages with fraudulent, harassing or erotic
text, according to Xinhua, quoting MII sources.

Thailand introduced compulsory registration for prepaid mobile users
earlier this year in an attempt to prevent bomb attacks, saying most
of some 120 bombings in the country since early 2004 had been
triggered by mobile phone.

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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at
http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or)
http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html

For additional news headlines, go to:
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html

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

From: Reuters News Wire <reuters@teleco-digest.org> 
Subject: Man Pleads Guilty in E-bay Internet Attack
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2005 21:20:47 -0600


An Oregon man has pleaded guilty to using a computer worm to launch
attacks against Internet auction site eBay Inc., the U.S. attorney's
office handling the case said on Wednesday.

Anthony Scott Clark, 21, pleaded guilty to intentionally damaging a
protected computer, a crime with a maximum penalty of 10 years in
prison and a fine of up to twice any losses incurred, according to the
U.S. Attorney for the northern district of California.

In July and August 2003, Clark and accomplices infected about 20,000
computers with a worm, a type of malicious program that allowed them
to direct the machines to visit eBay.com, overwhelming the popular Web
site, the attorney's office said.

EBay spokesman Chris Donlay declined to say what kind of damage the
attacks caused, but welcomed news of the plea.

"We take the protection of our Web site and our community of users
very seriously and we think this case will send a pretty clear message
that we will pursue anyone who attempts to do this kind of thing,"
Donlay said.

Luke Macaulay, a spokesman a the attorney's office, said damages were
estimated to be between "tens of thousands and millions" of dollars,
and that a judge would decide on the amount during Clark's sentencing
hearing in April 2006.

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. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at
http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or)
http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html

Additional news headlines at: 
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/internet-news.html

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

From: Danny Burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
Subject: Hospitals, was: Unanswered Calls to Cell Phones?
Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2005 03:12:16 UTC
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC


In <telecom24.585.18@telecom-digest.org> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:

> When you are in an emergency situation (ie in a hospital) and they
> don't allow cellphone use or you don't have one, you indeed are forced
> to use their phone and pay their charges.

> Unlike normal businesses, pay phone providers do not have to tell you
> their prices; you only find out a month later when you get the bill.
> Imagine going food shopping with the prices unmarked and not knowing
> how much you spent for food until the bill comes.  Would you tolerate
> that?  But it's perfectly fine with pay phones.

Since you brought it up, I figured I'd point out there's another big
group that plays this exact series of games, where they _don't_ give
you a price (or even an estimate) up front, don't allow comparison
shopping, and pretty much extort you at a time of need.

I'm referring to the _hospital_ you just visited.

Try finding out ahead of time what they'll charge you for, say, an
uncomplicated broken arm. Or, a bit simpler (given the vagaries of
medical care), what their average charge was for the 215 broken arms
they set last year.

For that matter, ask them about the 57 different varieties of
ketc^h^h^h 57 different charge scales they'd choose among based on how
you'd be paying for treating that aformentioned broken arm.

Hint: If you're a "self-pay", the list price they'll demand from you
is a _lot_ higher than the negotiated one with an insurance
company. [a]

Very few other industries get away with this. Even (in most
jurisdictions) car repair shops have to give you at least a reasonably
realistic estimate and post their hourly rates.

Hospital medical care in this country tends to be (with some,
fortunately few, exceptions) top notch -- at least for emergency
situations. Hospital economics rank up there with Enron and MCI.

_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
		     dannyb@panix.com 
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Interesting you should mention it. 
Fortunatly, I have only had to be in our own Mercy Hospital here in
Independence once. (Readers may recall when Eric Smith went on
vacation and left his 'puppy' [technically a puppy in age, but in 
fact a huge monster of a dog here to stay with me while he was gone.
It is an Australian Cattle Dog, a big fellow who lives on farms and
has the duty of rounding up cows and sheep each day to get them back
to the barn. Buffy is _much_ larger now, but still very playful.] At 
4:00 AM one day while I was asleep, Buffy on my bed with me of course,
the dog jumped off the bed and started a big ruckus. I woke up and had
been told by Eric that the dog knows the word 'potty' meaning he
wanted go outside. I mumbled 'potty?'  the dog jumped up and down and
ran over by the door. I went to open the door, I stepped outside and
the dog _knocked me over, flat on my face_ in his eagerness to get out
and hopefully have me come to play with him as well. It scratched up
my face, and considering my age and general disabilities, the next
morning Lisa Minter's mother was here and insisted I should go over to
the hospital, which I did. I got out of the E.R. about two hours later
and when the bill came it was for _two thousand dollars_ (some X-rays
and a few other things. But this is the interesting part: the bill
started out at a couple thousand, then Medicare Part A paid for quite
a bit of it; another portion of the bill was marked 'adjustment' (and
a credit amount) and the portion for me to pay out of pocket was all
of seventy-five dollars! I asked the ladies in their office how did I
get down from two thousand dollars for a couple hours in the E.R. less
the part Medicare paid to only seventy-five dollars. What is the
'adjustment' which took off a large part of the bill?  She said I was
billed the 'going rate' for their services, less what Medicare paid
for, less what Medicare _said they were allowed to bill me_ and then I
got the difference. I have Part A and Part B, now starting January 1 I
get Part D as well. 

Such a refreshing change from 1999-2000 when I went into Storemont-Vale
Medical Center in Topeka and came out with a bill whose bottom line
was _three hundred thousand_ dollars; not bad I guess considering I
was comatose for over two months and in their rehabilitation center
for a month after that. Seeing that bill for $300,000.00 almost caused
me to have another heart attack/stroke on the spot. Fortunatly, Kansas
SRS paid for that. 'Never again' is too soon for my return.  PAT]

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

Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2005 23:10:33 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Marriott Customer Data For 200,000 Missing


December 28, 2005

ORLANDO, Fla. --The timeshare unit of Marriott International Inc. is
notifying more than 200,000 people that their personal data are
missing after backup computer tapes went missing from a Florida
office.

The data relates to 206,000 employees, timeshare owners and timeshare
customers of Marriott Vacation Club International, the company said in
a statement Tuesday. The computer tapes were stored in Orlando, where
the unit is based.

The company did not say when the tapes disappeared. They contained
Social Security numbers, bank and credit card numbers, according to
letters the company began sending customers on Saturday.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/12/28/marriott_customer_data_for_200000_missing/

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

Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2005 23:22:43 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Nerds in the Hood, Stars on the Web


By DAVE ITZKOFF
The New York Times

For most aspiring rappers, the fastest route to having material
circulated around the World Wide Web is to produce a work that is
radical, cutting-edge and, in a word, cool. But now a pair of
"Saturday Night Live" performers turned unexpected hip-hop icons are
discovering that Internet stardom may be more easily achieved by being
as nerdy as possible.

In "Lazy Sunday," a music video that had its debut on the Dec. 17
broadcast of "SNL," two cast members, Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg,
adopt the brash personas of head-bopping, hand-waving rappers. But as
they make their way around Manhattan's West Village, they rhyme with
conviction about subjects that are anything but hard-core: they boast
about eating cupcakes from the Magnolia Bakery, searching for travel
directions on MapQuest and achieving their ultimate goal of attending
a matinee of the fantasy movie "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion,
the Witch and the Wardrobe."

It is their obliviousness to their total lack of menace - or maybe 
the ostentatious way they pay for convenience-store candy with $10 
bills -- that makes the video so funny, but it is the Internet that 
has made it a hit. Since it was originally broadcast on NBC, "Lazy 
Sunday" has been downloaded more than 1.2 million times from the 
video-sharing Web site YouTube.com; it has cracked the upper echelons 
of the video charts at NBC.com and the iTunes Music Store; and it has 
even inspired a line of T-shirts, available at Teetastic.com.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/27/arts/television/27samb.html?ex=1293339600&en=1c057b9f6aaea137&ei=5090

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

From: AES <siegman@stanford.edu>
Subject: Re: Cell Phone Extenders?
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2005 19:29:25 -0800
Organization:  Stanford University


In article <telecom24.585.17@telecom-digest.org>, niallgal@yahoo.com
<niallgal@yahoo.com> wrote:

> A quick web search comes up with
> http://www.digitalantenna.com/cellamprep_DA4000SBR.html which makes
> the following claims:

Thanks for info, but the packaged retail version of this seems to be:

   DA4KSBR-50U -  For Large Yachts and RVs, Home, Office
   MSRP $699.95

     System Includes:

    * DA4000SBR 3W dual band 60dB gain wireless amplifier/repeater unit
    * 12VDC power converter
    * 110VAC power supply
    * Inside omni-directional antenna with 6¹ cable*
    * Outside 9dB gain omni-directional dual band cell antenna 
      and mounting bracket*
    * 50¹ PowerMax DA340 ULTRA low loss coaxial cable and 
      factory attached connectors

At that price I'm afraid I'll have to wait until my financial status
gets closer to the "large yacht" stage before going after one of these
for my (comparatively modest) home.

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: Mother Decides to Fight Downloading Suit on Her Own
Date: 28 Dec 2005 13:41:18 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


Jim Fitzgerald wrote:

> If the downloading was done on her computer, Santangelo thinks it may
> have been the work of a young friend of her children. Santangelo, 43,
> has been described by a federal judge as "an Internet-illiterate
> parent, who does not know Kazaa from kazoo, and who can barely
> retrieve her email." Kazaa is the peer-to-peer software program used
> to share files.

Interesting newsgroup attitude here:

In the problem with the kid who porned himself, people said it was the
parent's fault for not knowing what the kid was doing.  But here
apparently it's perfectly ok for the parent to be lnternet illiterate
and not know what the kids were doing.

We can't have a double standard.

I think this case and the other illustrates the dangers of an
unbridled Internet.  We can argue that the motorist is ultimately
responsible for how he drives the car, but that doesn't stop us from
spending billions on external safety devices to protect the motorist
from his own driving errors.  The truth is that motorists do drift
across the center line and that's why we have medial strips to protect
against head-on collisions, for example.

There are no seat belts, medial strips, speed bumps, or anything else
on the Internet.  We have people committing crimes and not even
realizing it.

Regarding this music download case, did the PC come equipped with the
software needed to download the music?  If so, why did the PC mfr
provide such a tool?  Why didn't the music's owner protect its site
from unauthorized downloads?  Why didn't the ISP warn the downloads
were illegal?

How did the PC user -- presumably the "innocent stupid kid" -- know
where to go and how to download the illegal music?  Maybe the kid
isn't so innocent and is indeed a thief.  Would we let the kid get off
free if he stole a carton of records from a music store?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are close, Lisa, but not completely
correct. You can type on a computer (as in downloading music) and an
unsophisticated mother will not know _exactly_ what the kid is doing,
whether she stands there for a couple minutes or all day. On the flip
side, if the little guy has a camera turned on and is acting out
sexually with either his friends or an older guy or whatever, if mother 
comes in and sees it, there will be hell to pay. I am sure mother is
not _that_ unophisticated.  PAT]

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

Date: 28 Dec 2005 22:00:44 -0000
From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
Subject: Re: Cell Phone Extenders?
Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA


> Even GSM in the USA doesn't compare with GSM overseas in terms of how
> far one can be from a tower ( and over a hill, too).

Depends on the band.  GSM most places originally ran in the 900 MHz
band and has expanded to the 1800 MHZ band.  Here in the US, it
started on 1900 MHz and later moved down to 800 MHz, replacing the
older TDMA.

Lower frequencies propagate better, so if you're comparing GSM 900 to
GSM 1900, you're right, 900 wins.  But if you're comparing 900 to 800,
they're about the same.  Around here, Cingular is all GSM 800 and the
coverage even in fairly rural areas is fine.

R's,

John

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

From: sethb@panix.com (Seth Breidbart)
Subject: Re: Payphone Surcharges (was: Unanswered Cellphones)
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2005 22:29:00 +0000 (UTC)
Organization: Society for the Promulgation of Cruelty to the Clueless


In article <telecom24.583.7@telecom-digest.org>, Anthony Bellanga
<no-spam@no-spam.no-spam> wrote:

> The surcharge rates are *NOT* regulated!

Which surcharges?

> The FCC/etc. have "allowed" the payphone owners to charge these
> surcharges, LONG AFTER the private payphone owners first became
> involved in the payphone game.

For 800 number, the FCC set the charge the (last I checked) just under
$0.30.  That's paid by the recipient (who may be a long distance
carrier, or any sort of company with a toll-free inbound number).

> But the rates themselves, while "recommended" by the FCC/etc., are
> NOT regulated! The amounts that the payphone owners charge back to
> the Long Distance carriers who then pass back to the card-holder is
> *PURE GRAVY* for both, since the Long Distance and Card companies
> are most likely adding even more profit for themselves.

So you think the payphone owner should allow those calls to tie up his
payphones for free?

Seth


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well Seth, in the olden, golden days of
the Bell System, there was a back office function called 'Separations
and Settlements' which divided up the money so both the sending and
the recieving telco and any telco in the transit path all got their
share of the money. And just as hotel switchboards get a commission
 from telco on the amount of long distance revenue they collect on
telco's behalf, I think telco could have arranged to pay a commission
to the COCOT owner. PAT]

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

From: Gabe <advertising@adtomi.com>
Subject: Re: What Carriers Does Vonage Use to Terminate Calls?
Date: 28 Dec 2005 15:34:26 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


Tony P. wrote:

> In article <telecom24.584.6@telecom-digest.org>, advertising@adtomi.com
> says:

>> I'm just currious what companies Vonage users to terminate calls across
>> the country since they do not have their own true infrastructure.  Any
>> ideas?

>> Gabriel

> Mostly Paetec and Focal CLEC switches in various regions. Probably why
> they can't do proper LNP in some cases since neither Paetec or Focal
> have a switch in those regions.

> Luckily we've got a pretty much idle Paetec #5ESS here in Providence
> that handles things quite nicely.

> Vonage simply uses IP packets instead of copper pairs to haul calls to
> underutilized capacity on CLEC switches. Really elegant when you come
> right down to it. They completely bypassed the local regulatory
> environments.

"Vonage simply uses IP packets instead of copper pairs to haul calls
to underutilized capacity on CLEC switches. Really elegant when you
come right down to it. They completely bypassed the local regulatory
environments. "

What do you mean by this?  

Gabe

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

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: Physically Protecting The Local Loop Network?
Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2005 01:24:39 GMT


Rich Greenberg wrote:

> In article <telecom24.583.9@telecom-digest.org>, Steven Lichter
> <Die@spammers.com> wrote:

>> I had a space saver type of phone (the old black ones with the dial on
>> top) installed in a room in my parent's garage and the installer that
>> installed it worked on the phone the better part of a day, could not
>> get it to work, and had other installers coming by to look at it, he
>> came back the next day and got it to work, it needed a special bell
>> box to work.  When I ordered the phone the rep had no idea what it
>> even was, this was in Pacific Telephone area.  When I moved out they
>> never came and got it, they just left it there.  I came and got it one
>> day and it lives with my other old phone in my den.

> I also had one of those many years ago.  I didn't have the bell box
> that was normally used with it, so I took an induction coil from
> another phone (probably a 300 series) and wired it up.  Worked fine.
> That was 6 houses and 40+ years ago, and I have no idea where it is
> now.

> Rich Greenberg Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com    + 1 770 321 6507
> Eastern time.  N6LRT  I speak for myself & my dogs only.   VM'er since CP-67
> Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky                   Owner:Chinook-L
> Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/  Asst Owner:Sibernet-L

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I had one of those for awhile, but
> instead of hunting down a side-ringer I just plugged it in and used
> one of the other phones in my house for a ringing signal. It was
> easier just listen for a bell ringing somewhere else close by.  PAT]

Using that phone without its ringer box causes load on the line, low
voice and such, the box has an induction coil.

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.

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


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*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from                  *
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Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your
career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management
(MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35
credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the
skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including
data, video, and voice networks.

The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College
of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the
College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has
state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus
offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum.  Classes
are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning.

Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at
405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at
http://www.mstm.okstate.edu

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   In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert
   have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and
   enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order 
   telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has
   been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very
   inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request
   a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com 
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Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars
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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the
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organization.

End of TELECOM Digest V24 #586
******************************