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The Telecom Digest for May 7, 2010
Volume 29 : Issue 126 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Silicon Valley public transit losing all public AT&T pay phones (Thad Floryan)
Telekom Austria converts phone booths to EV chargers (Thad Floryan)
Re: Phone number helped track terror suspect (jch)
Re: Phone number helped track terror suspect (Gary)
Re: India government bans all Chinese telecom gear (Thad Floryan)
FairPoint hearings begin in northern New England (Joseph Singer)
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Date: Thu, 06 May 2010 00:25:05 -0700
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Silicon Valley public transit losing all public AT&T pay phones
Message-ID: <4BE26ED1.30009@thadlabs.com>
The San Jose (CA) Mercury News' "Road Show" column:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mr-roadshow/ci_15025086
had this item today (5-May-2010):
Q: This is in regards to the removal of public phones at VTA
light-rail stations. I do not own nor do I want a cell phone.
Why remove an existing system? Why spend money to downgrade
public service in this economy? As a rider since 1989, I'd
like to thank those responsible for making my life much more
difficult, but I don't have their cell phone numbers.
John Phoenix
A: AT&T is phasing out pay phone services, and the Valley
Transportation Authority says it would have had to pay very
steep fees to keep pay phones on its platforms, so they are
being removed. In their place, the VTA is installing blue tower
emergency phones so you can contact the agency or dial 911 for
an emergency. These phones should be installed by Memorial Day.
Date: Thu, 06 May 2010 01:14:11 -0700
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Telekom Austria converts phone booths to EV chargers
Message-ID: <4BE27A53.20505@thadlabs.com>
This makes me wonder what's going to happen in the UK to
Dr. Who's tardis? :-)
What's also interesting is the last paragraph: payment via
mobile phone, so the telco stays in the loop! :-)
http://www.physorg.com/news192197933.html
" If you've run out of juice for your environmentally friendly
" electric car, a recharge may be only a phone call away,
" literally, under a new scheme unveiled by Telekom Austria here
" Tuesday.
"
" The telecommunications company has decided to turn its public
" telephone boxes -- which are in danger of becoming obsolete
" anyway thanks to mobile phones -- into battery recharging
" stations for electric cars.
"
" Admittedly, the scheme is still in its infancy: there are just
" 223 electric cars currently registered in Austria at the moment,
" plus 3,559 hybrid cars, from a total 4.36 million cars on
" Austrian roads.
"
" But the Austrian motor vehicle association VOeC is predicting
" that the number will rise to 405,000 by 2020.
"
" In a bid to find new uses for its 13,500 phone boxes around
" the country, Telekom Austria has therefore come up with the
" idea of turning them into recharging stations for electric
" vehicles: cars, scooters and bicycles.
"
" Telekom Austria chief Hannes Ametsreiter unveiled the first
" such phone box in front of the company's headquarters in
" Vienna on Tuesday.
"
" And the aim is to convert 29 more phone boxes by the end of
" this year, Ametsreiter told journalists.
"
" "In the longer run, we'll have to sound out the market to
" see exactly how many phone boxes will be converted," the
" telecom chief said.
"
" In the initial trial period, recharging will cost nothing. An
" electric car needs around 6.5 hours to be recharged, an
" electric scooter 80 minutes and an electric bike 20 minutes.
"
" But in future, payment, which is expected to cost a single-digit
" euro sum, will be via mobile phone, Ametsreiter said.
***** Moderator's Note *****
"Look around, it's all so clear
Wherever we were going, well, we're here
Glory, glory hallelujah
Welcome to the future!"
- Brad Paisley
Date: Wed, 5 May 2010 23:09:23 -0400
From: "jch" <jch@nospam.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Phone number helped track terror suspect
Message-ID: <hrtbt4$rg5$1@news.albasani.net>
Jeff or Lisa wrote:
> The New York Times reported how a telephone number helped track and
> identify the suspect in the Times Square attempted bombing.
>
> For full article please see:
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/us/06cellphone.html
Isn't it great how the NY Times tells future bombers how not to get caught
next time. What's with that anyway. Why are key details made available so
they can be published?
Date: Thu, 6 May 2010 18:06:08 -0400
From: "Gary" <fake-email-address@bogus.hotmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Phone number helped track terror suspect
Message-ID: <hrvegh$7cl$1@news.eternal-september.org>
"jch" <jch@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:hrtbt4$rg5$1@news.albasani.net...
> Isn't it great how the NY Times tells future bombers how not to get
> caught next time. What's with that anyway. Why are key details
> made available so they can be published?
I don't think the NYT did anything wrong here. The guy gave his phone
number to a government agency and then 3 months later used it to call people
in Pakistan. Anybody with half a clue should have been able to figure out
that wasn't such a smart idea. Heck, shows and movies like "24" and "The
Bourne XXX" show you more about how to avoid detection than the NYT
published.
Mythbusters recently had a show where they demostrated what it takes to blow
up a propane tank (a lot, actually). They were trying to see if they could
turn the tank into a rocket (no), but the show could serve as a lesson on
how to make one go boom. Should we censor them, too?
-Gary
Date: Thu, 06 May 2010 15:18:07 -0700
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: India government bans all Chinese telecom gear
Message-ID: <4BE3401F.6070309@thadlabs.com>
On 5/1/2010 10:07 AM, Garrett Wollman wrote:
> In article <pan.2010.05.01.01.08.24.151123@myrealbox.com>,
> David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com> wrote:
>
>> Unless you have access to the source code any - and that means *any*,
>> like Windows as another example - closed source system could have all
>> sorts of surreptitious stuff built into it just waiting for the day
>> someone wants to activate it.
>
> Even if you do have access to the source code, and audit it
> carefully, that's still the case.
>
> I believe the canonical reference here is Ken Thompson's Turing Award
> lecture, "Reflections on Trusting Trust".
Curious, I wanted to read that and I found these two sites with Ken's
speech; HTML version here:
http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/trust.html
and PDF for those who want a copy:
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~ganger/712.fall02/papers/p761-thompson.pdf
In case it's not obvious, Ken is the co-creator of UNIX:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Thompson
Date: Thu, 6 May 2010 15:22:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Joseph Singer <joeofseattle@yahoo.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: FairPoint hearings begin in northern New England
Message-ID: <143877.40304.qm@web52703.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
PORTLAND, Maine - Regulatory hearings have kicked off in Maine on
FairPoint Communications' reorganization plan as the company winds its
way through the complex bankruptcy process.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission began two days of hearings
Wednesday on FairPoint's petition seeking regulatory approval of its
bankruptcy reorganization plan and modifications to the commission's
2008 order approving FairPoint's $2.3 billion purchase of Verizon's
landline and Internet operations in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Additional hearings are scheduled later this month in New Hampshire
and Vermont.
Weighed down by heavy debt and operational problems that led to
customer defections, FairPoint filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last
October.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2010/05/05/fairpoint_hearings_begin_in_northern_new_england/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Maine+news
(or)
http://bit.ly/amKs96
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