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The Telecom Digest for December 15, 2011
Volume 30 : Issue 319 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Re: OSHA: Two Federal DOT Agencies Ban Hand-Held Phone (David Clayton)
Re: An experimental switching system using new electronic techniques (HAncock4)
Re: OSHA: Two Federal DOT Agencies Ban Hand-Held Phone (Pete Cresswell)
Re: OSHA: Two Federal DOT Agencies Ban Hand-Held Phone (David Clayton)
The Facebook Resisters (Monty Solomon)
U.S. Safety Board Urges Cellphone Ban for Drivers (Monty Solomon)
What Cellphone Calls Say About Parent-Teenager Relations (Monty Solomon)

====== 30 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======

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Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:36:43 +1100
From: David Clayton <dcstarbox-usenet@yahoo.com.au>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: OSHA: Two Federal DOT Agencies Ban Hand-Held Phone   
Message-ID: <pan.2011.12.14.07.36.39.457210@yahoo.com.au>

.........
> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>
> Good grief! That's more than I ever wanted to know about either of those
> subjects!
>
> Let me explain my original remarks in a different context. I was trying
> to drive home the point that requiring drivers to pass a special exam
> before using a cell-phone while driving wouldn't be allowed by the "powers
> that be" - the elites who make a lot of money by arranging for laws that
> - wait for it - allow un- and under-qualified drivers to take on
> responsibilities that they are not prepared for.
>
> I mentioned pilots for the same reason that B movies play minor cords on
> the sound track just before the swamp-thang grabs the frightened virgin.
> It's called "foreshadowing".
>
> So much for subtlety.
>
> Bill Horne
> Moderator

My point is basically that a lot of us do silly things like use phones
while driving because (in our own little bubble) we believe that we are
capable of doing these things regardless of any warnings/laws etc.

By requiring people to basically "Put up or shut up" by having to prove
competence to be allowed to do something like this may well reduce the
incidence of this sort of misuse for a fair section of the population who
would probably not have the required skills.

There will always be a section of people who will disobey any law
prohibiting using a phone while driving, but for most sane people having
irrefutable evidence that they are not skilled enough to do so should be
far more effective than "the government says no".

The "One size fits all" way of just saying "No" in a lot of areas isn't
good enough to make a lot of people change their behaviour, so how about
we change the paradigm by saying: "Prove that you are capable, and you can"?

I don't really know if the "Powers that be" could stand in the way of
something like this if they also got their "piece of the action" by doing
the testing.      ;-)

--
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.

***** Moderator's Note *****

My point is that it can't happen. Even if cell phones weren't
generating billions of dollars for men with a lot of political
power, it would be useless to try to qualify drivers to use them: one
need only look to the "CB Craze" that followed the truckers' strike in
the - what was it? - 1970's, to understand that if motorists see
others using cellphones, they will use them, law or no.

Bill Horne
Moderator




Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:28:34 -0800 (PST)
From: withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org (HAncock4)
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: An experimental switching system using new electronic   techniques 
Message-ID: <75c3c18b-b9c1-46ee-9fd5-f83015facb44@u6g2000vbg.googlegroups.com>

On Dec 13, 4:13 pm, "Julian Thomas" <j...@jt-mj.net> wrote:
> On Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:53:48 -0500 Telecom Digest Moderator wrote:
>
>
>
> >> > I came across a fascinating paper by A. E. Noel, Jr. , in the Bell
> >> > System Technical Journal: it gives an amazing insight into the coming
> >> > of the "digital" age in telephone switching, and into many "what if"
> >> > technologies that never made it off the drawing board.
>
> Make that A. (for Amos) E. Joel.
>
> This sounds like the early design of the Morris (Ill.) ESSl

The Morris experiment could not handle traditional ringing current
(about 90V 25 Hz) through the crosspoints, so they used low powered
tone ringered in the telephone sets.  The sets also had some
amplification, and were given 20 pps dials instead of 10 pps.  The
1925-1975 Bell Labs history has a whole chapter on this.  Various
technologies were considered.  Later ESS used a metallic connection
"remreed" which did allow continued use of existing telephone sets.

The Bell Labs history and issues of the "Bell Laboratories Record"
magazine tend to present the history in somewhat more layman's terms.
The BSTJ tends to go in heavy for the math equations.  I hope someday
the "Record" will go on-line.  A few issues have been put up
privately.

Some large PBX switchboards also had fast 20 pps dials.  A friend of
mine modified his home phone and it worked (served by either panel or
No. 1 xbar).




Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:53:45 -0500
From: Pete Cresswell <PeteCress@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: OSHA: Two Federal DOT Agencies Ban Hand-Held Phone 
Message-ID: <dhhhe7974tan4c9dovgvquh9cvp335qkuq@4ax.com>

Per David Clayton:
>There will always be a section of people who will disobey any law
>prohibiting using a phone while driving

I am a little surprised that nobody has discussed a technological
fix: setting up the cell phone system to drop calls if the phone
is moving too fast.

I'm sure there are many reasons why that would be
impossible/undesirable - but I'm surprised it doesn't get brought
up.
-- 
Pete Cresswell

***** Moderator's Note *****

It was, and you can't: there's no way to tell if it's a driver or a
passenger who is using the cellphone.

Bill Horne
Moderator




Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:27:03 +1100
From: David Clayton <dcstarbox-usenet@yahoo.com.au>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: OSHA: Two Federal DOT Agencies Ban Hand-Held Phone   
Message-ID: <pan.2011.12.14.20.27.02.736063@yahoo.com.au>

On Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:36:43 +1100, David Clayton wrote:
..........
> The "One size fits all" way of just saying "No" in a lot of areas isn't
> good enough to make a lot of people change their behaviour, so how about
> we change the paradigm by saying: "Prove that you are capable, and you
> can"?
>
> I don't really know if the "Powers that be" could stand in the way of
> something like this if they also got their "piece of the action" by
> doing the testing.      ;-)
..........
>
> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>
> My point is that it can't happen. Even if cell phones weren't
> generating billions of dollars for men with a lot of political power,
> it would be useless to try to qualify drivers to use them: one need only
> look to the "CB Craze" that followed the truckers' strike in the - what
> was it? - 1970's, to understand that if motorists see others using
> cellphones, they will use them, law or no.
>
> Bill Horne
> Moderator

You are (unfortunately) probably correct, but wouldn't you just like to
see it tried somewhere just to see if it did have any effect on the
obviously chronic problem already?

--
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: Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:23:14 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: The Facebook Resisters
Message-ID: <p06240812cb0e5d0a6966@[192.168.181.231]>

The Facebook Resisters

By JENNA WORTHAM
December 13, 2011

Tyson Balcomb quit Facebook after a chance encounter on an elevator. 
He found himself standing next to a woman he had never met - yet 
through Facebook he knew what her older brother looked like, that she 
was from a tiny island off the coast of Washington and that she had 
recently visited the Space Needle in Seattle.

"I knew all these things about her, but I'd never even talked to 
her," said Mr. Balcomb, a pre-med student in Oregon who had some 
real-life friends in common with the woman. "At that point I thought, 
maybe this is a little unhealthy."

As Facebook prepares for a much-anticipated public offering, the 
company is eager to show off its momentum by building on its huge 
membership: more than 800 million active users around the world, 
Facebook says, and roughly 200 million in the United States, or 
two-thirds of the population.

But the company is running into a roadblock in this country. Some 
people, even on the younger end of the age spectrum, just refuse to 
participate, including people who have given it a try.

One of Facebook's main selling points is that it builds closer ties 
among friends and colleagues. But some who steer clear of the site 
say it can have the opposite effect of making them feel more, not 
less, alienated.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/technology/shunning-facebook-and-living-to-tell-about-it.html




Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:40:09 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: U.S. Safety Board Urges Cellphone Ban for Drivers
Message-ID: <p06240818cb0ef23d6efc@[192.168.181.231]>

U.S. Safety Board Urges Cellphone Ban for Drivers

By MATT RICHTEL
December 13, 2011

A federal agency on Tuesday called for a ban on all cellphone use by 
drivers - the most far-reaching such recommendation to date - saying 
its decision was based on a decade of investigations into 
distraction-related accidents, as well as growing concerns that 
powerful mobile devices are giving drivers even more reasons to look 
away from the road.

As part of its recommendation, the National Transportation Safety 
Board is urging states to ban drivers from using hands-free devices, 
including wireless headsets. No state now outlaws such activity, but 
the board said that drivers faced serious risks from talking on 
wireless headsets, just as they do by taking a hand off the wheel to 
hold a phone to their ear.

And Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the N.T.S.B., an independent 
federal agency responsible for promoting traffic safety and 
investigating accidents, said the concern was heightened by 
increasingly powerful phones that people can use to e-mail, watch 
movies and play games.

"Every year, new devices are being released," she said. "People are 
tempted to update their Facebook page, they are tempted to tweet, as 
if sitting at a desk. But they are driving a car."

The agency based its recommendation on evidence from its 
investigation of numerous crashes in which electronic distraction was 
a major contributing factor.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/technology/federal-panel-urges-cellphone-ban-for-drivers.html




Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:08:56 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: What Cellphone Calls Say About Parent-Teenager Relations
Message-ID: <p0624080ccb0f130c1581@[10.0.1.3]>

What Cellphone Calls Say About Parent-Teenager Relations

By RONI CARYN RABIN
JULY 1, 2011

Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times

Do cellphones help teenagers feel more independent, or are they an
electronic leash?  Poor communication is a common complaint when it
comes to parents and teenagers. What happens when you throw a
cellphone into the mix?

At least 75 percent of American teenagers today have a cellphone, 
often purchased by their parents so they can stay in closer touch. 
And parents are more likely than other adults to have a cellphone, 
for the same reason.

"The phone is now a huge part of parenting. It's how you reach your 
kids," said Amanda Lenhart, a senior research specialist with the Pew 
Research Center Internet and American Life project. In a survey 
conducted in the summer of 2009, nearly 70 percent of teenagers said 
they talked on the phone with their parents at least once a day.

Now researchers are starting to zero in on how cellphone use affects 
the dynamic of the parent-child relationship. A paper published 
online on Monday in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social 
Networking suggests that both the nature of the calls and who 
initiates the calls may affect relations.

...

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/what-cellphone-calls-say-about-parent-teenager-relations/






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