---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <5242a7ee-ab0e-42f2-8fe1-6e5fc726a670@googlegroups.com> Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2017 12:32:46 -0800 (PST) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: History--early portable cell phone 1973 [Telecom] In July 1973, Popular Science magazine ran an article describing a portable "brick" cell phone and network, "Dynatac" by Motorola. Costs were projected to be, in 1973 dollars, $60-$100 per month. article: https://books.google.com/books?id=fz0ymWEOyowC&lpg=PP1&dq=popular%20science%20july%201973&pg=PA60#v=onepage&q&f=false cover photo of telephone set: https://books.google.com/books?id=fz0ymWEOyowC&lpg=PP1&dq=popular%20science%20july%201973&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false ------------------------------ Message-ID: <39C238CD-A9DB-4B6A-8BE2-170D149C8E9E@roscom.com> Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2017 09:12:41 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Bold Promises Fade to Doubts for a Trump-Linked Data Firm The big-data company Cambridge Analytica says it has the ability to predict the political leanings of every American adult, but how well it works remains unproved. By Nicholas Confessore and Danny Hakim Standing before political and business leaders in New York last fall, Alexander Nix promised a revolution. Many companies compete in the market for political microtargeting, using huge data sets and sophisticated software to identify and persuade voters. But Mr. Nix's little-known firm, Cambridge Analytica, claimed to have developed something unique: "psychographic" profiles that could predict the personality and hidden political leanings of every American adult. http://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/us/politics/cambridge-analytica.html ------------------------------ Message-ID: <4fd61228-be9e-4f52-9ba4-92a8bb2f0e60@googlegroups.com> Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2017 11:26:26 -0800 (PST) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Busy Redial feature discontinued? A special dialing feature was busy redial: "If the number you are calling is busy, Busy Redial will redial the last local telephone number you called for up to 30 minutes. If the number is not available after 30 minutes, the redialing is cancelled. You can cancel the redial with a code if you do not want to wait for the number to become available." I found this feature very handy when I had to make an urgent call to a line that was busy. However, according to the Verizon web page, this feature has been discontinued for new customers. Could anyone explain why? https://www.verizon.com/support/residential/phone/homephone/calling+features/busy+redial/busy+redial.htm ------------------------------ Message-ID: <10fcdcd1-01c1-43a0-82fc-349292152d29@googlegroups.com> Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2017 11:23:43 -0800 (PST) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: FCC grants emergency "unblocking" of CNID to Jewish Centers On Saturday, March 4, 2017 at 5:49:26 PM UTC-5, danny burstein wrote: > The Federal Communications Commission today issued an emergency > temporary waiver to Jewish Community Centers and [the] telecom- > munications carriers [which] serve them to allow these entities > and law enforcement agencies to access the caller-ID information > of threatening and harassing callers. [snip] > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > Cops are schooled and experienced at evaluating both context and > capability, which is why they are given the job of evaluating "threat" > calls, and they should be the first line of defense, not the second. I'm confused: What happened to the *57 Call Trace feature? The information gathered by that was never available to consumers, but was given to law enforcement. Also, I thought that information was the more reliable ANI, not caller-ID. Could someone elaborate on current practice? Another question: when organizations issue "bomb threat call" directions to their employees, *57 isn't mentioned. I would think an employee should use that immediately upon receiving a threatening call. Thanks. P.S. Here is the Verizon customer support webpage for Call Trace: https://www.verizon.com/support/residential/phone/homephone/calling+features/call+trace/questions+and+answers/96525.htm ***** Moderator's Note ***** AFAICT, the new FCC chairman's "current practice" is to issue lots of PR notices and grab as much free ink as he can. Of course the community centers have access to call trace features, but apparently the FCC feels that those features are inadequate to the task at hand: since only the most recent call can be traced with #57, a busy center might have another call overwrite the info before someone can use the feature. I'm still concerned at the thought that the police are sub-contracxting their jobs to untrained volunteers at community centers. Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Thu, 09 Mar 2017