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Message Digest
Volume 28 : Issue 248 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Millions set to disconnect their fixed-line phones
Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Re: Tymnet
Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Like Apple, TV Explores Must-Have Applications
Texting? No, Just Trying to Read Chapter 6
Gadget Makers Can Find Thief, but Don't Ask
Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
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Date: Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:40:58 +1000
From: David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Millions set to disconnect their fixed-line phones
Message-ID: <pan.2009.09.07.07.40.57.573937@myrealbox.com>
http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/millions-set-to-disconnect-their-fixedline-phones-20090904-fbih.html
Millions set to disconnect their fixed-line phones
JONATHAN DART
September 5, 2009
Research by the Australian Communications and Media Authority shows as
many as one in five consumers have considered dropping their fixed line
subscriptions to save money.
Research by the Australian Communications and Media Authority shows as
many as one in five consumers have considered dropping their fixed line
subscriptions to save money.
ABOUT 2 million people are considering ditching their fixed-line home
phones, as Australians move closer to becoming one of the world's first
wireless economies.
For the first time this year, the communications giant Telstra has had
more mobile phone subscribers than fixed-line subscribers. Mobile phones
now outnumber fixed lines by more than two-to-one.
There are 105 mobiles for every 100 people, making Australia one of the
most saturated markets in the world behind South Korea, with 114 mobile
phones for every 100 people.
[Moderator snip]
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
***** Moderator's Note *****
Please don't quote entire articles: IANALB the "fair use" boundary
might not cover it, and I don't want any DMCA notices in my
email.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:39:00 +1000
From: David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Message-ID: <pan.2009.09.07.07.38.59.374203@myrealbox.com>
On Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:02:31 -0400, Robert Bonomi wrote:
.........
> Actually, there was a 'default' standard. Before the micro-processor
> rage, most CPE (DTE and DCE) had DB-25M(!!) connectors, and cables were
> DB-25F <-> DB-25F, and came in precisely two varieties -- 'straight
> through', or 'null-modem' -- with -all- the signals carried. Modems and
> directly related devices were wired as DCE, and everything else was wired
> as DTE.
.........
Don't start mentioning "Null-modem" cables or I might start a rant on the
*correct* way to wire one of these versus the wrong way that 95% seemed to
be done...... ;-)
I still recall how badly some companies implemented RS-232 connections,
Nortel were notorious for being clueless on this with the Meridian 1
systems.
--
Regards, David.
David Clayton
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a
measure of how many questions you have.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 07 Sep 2009 08:19:54 -0700
From: AES <siegman@stanford.edu>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Tymnet
Message-ID: <siegman-E67692.08192407092009@news.stanford.edu>
In article
<33469c77-f00b-4392-b214-a13488059555@x25g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,
"harold@hallikainen.com" <harold@hallikainen.com> wrote:
> processor based product before I had a computer. Later I got a
> *** Cromemco *** Z-80 system and did development on that. Cal Poly San Luis
> Obispo also had open dial-in modems where you could telnet to pretty
That's a word from the past. It was named that after Crothers Memorial
Hall, a dorm for graduate engineering students at Stanford, where one of
its founders lived, as did I in around 1954. I can't remember the
founder's name; fortunately I can still remember my own.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 08:57:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: "harold@hallikainen.com" <harold@hallikainen.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Message-ID: <7780083f-f387-4543-940d-59e47652367b@v15g2000prn.googlegroups.com>
The DCE/DTE problem was always fun. Back when we used 25 pin
connectors for EIA232, I remembered "terminal talks on two" to keep it
straight. I always thought all equipment should have the same pinout
and cables should be reversing (null modem). Then you could connect
anything to anything. That should also be done today with UTP Ethernet
on RJ connectors. Make all cables reversing (like a typical telco line
cord). Make all jacks the same.
Today, designing with microcontrollers, many have UARTs with RTS/CTS.
But, which is the output, and which is the input? I always have to go
looking deep in the datasheet and them noting it on the schematic to
keep it straight.
Also, my first experience with RTS/CTS was with a Lear Siegler ADM-1
terminal. It could do a batch send (escape-4 to send a line, escape-5
to send the screen). It would make RTS go true and wait for CTS to go
true before starting to send. Today, RTS/CTS seems to mostly be a bi-
directional CTS. If it's true, the device receiving the RTS or CTS is
allowed to transmit. If not, it has to wait.
On wire services, I recall the demodulator sitting under the model 15
was made by Lenkurt or something like that. I think they used
different audio tones for different services with all services being
on the line (at least it sounded like that when I listened to the
line).
Harold
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:02:34 -0400
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Message-ID: <UqqdnYG2f6En1zjXnZ2dnUVZ_tednZ2d@speakeasy.net>
harold@hallikainen.com wrote:
> The DCE/DTE problem was always fun. Back when we used 25 pin
> connectors for EIA232, I remembered "terminal talks on two" to keep it
> straight. I always thought all equipment should have the same pinout
> and cables should be reversing (null modem). Then you could connect
> anything to anything. That should also be done today with UTP Ethernet
> on RJ connectors. Make all cables reversing (like a typical telco line
> cord). Make all jacks the same.
If all the cables are wired for "crossover" connections, then devices
which transit an even number of patch bays wouldn't work. Making
switches and hubs use DCE connections and everything else DTE keeps
the rest of the wiring simple: it's _always" "straight across" unless
it's a switch-to-switch connection.
[snip]
> On wire services, I recall the demodulator sitting under the model 15
> was made by Lenkurt or something like that. I think they used
> different audio tones for different services with all services being
> on the line (at least it sounded like that when I listened to the
> line).
That's right: the Lenkurt demodulators (I don't think they qualified
as "modems", given their limited capability) could handle 16 channels
IIRC. Running multiple services on one wire was a big cost-saver back
then: each demodulator had filters for the channel that was fed to the
Teletype.
Bill Horne
(Filter QRM for direct replies)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 13:53:48 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Like Apple, TV Explores Must-Have Applications
Message-ID: <p06240866c6caf8f464bc@[10.0.1.3]>
Like Apple, TV Explores Must-Have Applications
By SAUL HANSELL
September 7, 2009
The cable and satellite TV business has a big case of iPhone envy.
Apple has been able to popularize its cellphone in a crowded field by
giving away or selling specialized applications that make the phone
more useful. So far, independent developers have written more than
65,000 apps.
DirecTV and the FiOS service from Verizon Communications have
recently announced app stores modeled directly on Apple's App Store.
Just a few applications have shown up so far, but already these few -
Bible verses, Facebook updates and fantasy sports team updates -
suggest that people may not be content to sit back while watching TV
but rather want to lean forward and interact and customize their TVs.
Most of the other cable, satellite and phone companies are also
developing technology that will let their set-top boxes run more
complex applications, including those written by outside developers.
But the companies are still wrestling with how open they want their
systems to be to outside developers, what business arrangement to
make with developers and what sorts of things people want to do while
watching their TV from their couches.
TV systems, after all, have long been tightly controlled by their
operators, who send squadrons of lawyers to negotiate deals with even
the most obscure channel. To them, the prospect of emulating Apple's
sprawling marketplace is frightening, yet still increasingly
appealing.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/business/07cable.html
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 14:54:01 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Texting? No, Just Trying to Read Chapter 6
Message-ID: <p06240867c6cb06d0a441@[10.0.1.3]>
Texting? No, Just Trying to Read Chapter 6
By RANDALL STROSS
September 6, 2009
In our digital age, miniaturization rules. This is a welcome thing -
in most cases. Squeezing two billion transistors onto a small chip?
All good. Squeezing an enormous printed textbook down to iPhone-size?
Not so good.
Yes, the textbook can be digitized and displayed on gadgets that
students can carry everywhere. But the iPhone version is painfully
limited in its usefulness.
The standard-size printed textbook provides the maximum amount of
text and graphics in a single view. Once cracked open, two facing
pages supply about 155 square inches of real estate, an expanse
populated by hundreds of words; the occasional chart, table or
photograph; and lots of restful white space. All of this is visible
without clicking, zooming or swiping.
The iPhone has a grand total of six square inches of display. In my
opinion, no amount of ingenuity will enable textbooks to squeeze into
a credit-card-size space. CourseSmart, a software company in San
Mateo, Calif., is nonetheless trying.
Last month, it released an iPhone app called eTextbooks, which lets
students read their textbooks on the phone. The app itself is free;
students buy access rights for a particular textbook title, which is
priced at about half the cost of the printed version. The price
includes eTextbook access, which the company has offered since 2007
via a Web browser.
CourseSmart was founded by five major textbook publishers - Pearson,
Cengage Learning, McGraw-Hill Education, John Wiley & Sons and the
Bedford, Freeman, Worth Publishing Group - and now has a catalog of
more than 7,000 eTextbook titles.
It's easy to see why students would want to lug around fewer
textbooks - and read them instead on their laptops. It's also easy to
see why they might not want to sign up a second time. Generally, when
viewed on a laptop or a PC monitor, just half or two-thirds of a
single page is displayed at once. Successive clicks take you to the
bottom of that page, to the top of the adjacent page, and to the
bottom of that page. After every page change, the screen goes blank
momentarily before refreshing.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/business/06digi.html
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 15:13:51 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Gadget Makers Can Find Thief, but Don't Ask
Message-ID: <p0624086ac6cb0baac763@[10.0.1.3]>
Gadget Makers Can Find Thief, but Don't Ask
By DAVID SEGAL
September 7, 2009
For decades, when an item was lost or stolen, a consumer went through
three stages of grief: anger, mourning and acceptance. You would be
miffed, then sad and then you would move on, in large part because
moving on was the only option.
Then came the Digital Age and with it, gadgets that manufacturers can
keep tabs on - and even profit from - when they wind up in the hands
of someone who has found or poached them. Which, in turn, has led to
a fourth stage of gadget-related grief: rage.
Specifically, rage at the gadget makers, which often know exactly who
has a missing or stolen device, because in many instances it has been
registered to a new user.
But many tech companies will not disclose information about the new
owners of missing devices unless a police officer calls with a search
warrant. Even a request to simply shut down service - which would
deter thieves by rendering their pilfered gadget useless - is
typically refused.
The problem, which nobody had to deal with before smartphones and
satellite radios, has reached new heights with the Kindle reader from
Amazon, with its ability to download books wirelessly and store
hundreds of titles on a single device.
On Web sites devoted to the e-book reader, including Blog Kindle and
Amazon's own Kindle Community board, many customers have been in a
snit over Amazon's policy on stolen Kindles.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/technology/07kindle.html
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:49:51 -0400
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Message-ID: <0_WdneNhSvZi4jjXnZ2dnUVZ_gdi4p2d@speakeasy.net>
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
> On Sep 3, 10:02 pm, Bill Horne wrote:
>> When I worked at Back Bay Toll in Boston, we had a 35ASR which was
>> used for company reporting. It was compatible with TWX machines - I
>> know this because I once sent a TWX to a real TWX machine by plugging
>> into the TWX circuit of a WU customer, and it worked fine.
[snip]
> I'm speculating here: Bill, you mentioned going into a "TWX circuit
> of a WU customer" and also using your teletype for BBS access. This
> sounds like it was toward the late 1970s. Was this after WU acquired
> TWX? [snip]
>
> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>
> This was about 1973 or 74: WU had taken over TWX, but N.E.T. was still
> maintaining the TWX (WADS) office at Franklin Street in Boston (a #5
> Xbar), so it was "just after" they sold the TWX network.
I need to correct my earlier answer:
It was in 1979 or early 1980, right after I returned to Ma Bell from
my first layoff. CBBS didn't go online until 1978, so it couldn't have
been 1973 or 1974.
Bill Horne
(Filter QRM for direct replies)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 04:18:21 +0000 (UTC)
From: "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Dr. James Marsters, TTY deaf service developer
Message-ID: <h84luc$jae$1@news.albasani.net>
Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> wrote:
>>***** Moderator's Note *****
>>This was about 1973 or 74: WU had taken over TWX, but N.E.T. was still
>>maintaining the TWX (WADS) office at Franklin Street in Boston (a #5
>>Xbar), so it was "just after" they sold the TWX network.
>I need to correct my earlier answer:
>It was in 1979 or early 1980, right after I returned to Ma Bell from
>my first layoff. CBBS didn't go online until 1978, so it couldn't have
>been 1973 or 1974.
Hah! You date things from CBBS! Traditionally, we celebrate the
anniversary of February 16, 1978, although it probably went live a week
or two earlier.
***** Moderator's Note *****
Ward Christensen probably remembers me to this day: I kept pestering
him to turn off the echo on the connections so that I wouldn't see
every character I typed showing up twice. When I finally got my H-89
built and dialed into CBBS with a "real" computer running 300 Baud, he
broke in and typed "Hey, Speedy!". ;-)
------------------------------
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