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The Telecom Digest for October 10, 2012
Volume 31 : Issue 236 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Verizon collecting old cellphones for victims of domestic abuse (Bill Horne)
Smart phones can provide help for hearing loss (Monty Solomon)
Cisco, Motorola, Netgear Team Up To Expose Wifi Patent Bully (Bill Horne)
DHS: Our Reports To Congress Are Successful Lies (Bill Horne)
Congress: Be Afraid of the Big Red Menace! (Bill Horne)

====== 31 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======

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Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2012 15:41:02 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Verizon collecting old cellphones for victims of domestic abuse Message-ID: <20121009194102.GA31959@telecom.csail.mit.edu> I saw this online today: Verizon Wireless and The Family Place Partner With the City of Plano to Raise Awareness of Domestic Violence PLANO, TEXAS, OCT. 9, 2012 . PRNewswire -- Verizon Wireless is launching a HopeLine® drive across Plano to collect no-longer-used wireless phones and accessories to benefit victims of domestic violence as part of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. In support of the cause, the city of Plano in conjunction with Verizon Wireless and The Family Place, has proclaimed October, HopeLine Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I'm ususally fairly skeptical about PR like this, but this instance merits an exception. I'd like to hear from other readers: please tell me if you feel this program will benefit domestic violence victims, if it will decrease the rates of these crimes, and if you feel there are other, better ways to address the problem. TIA. Bill -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly)
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2012 21:15:34 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Smart phones can provide help for hearing loss Message-ID: <p06240806cc992abb1953@[10.0.1.7]> Framingham entrepreneur phones in help for hearing loss By Bob Tremblay/Daily News staff The Milford Daily News Posted Oct 08, 2012 FRAMINGHAM - The statistics speak loud and clear. The World Health Organization reports that 693 million people worldwide require hearing assistance. That's about 10 percent of the Earth's population, and as this population ages, that number is expected to grow. Also, a recent survey indicates that 70 percent of baby boomers experience hearing difficulty in such social situations as bars and parties. Do not despair, however, as a company with Framingham ties has dedicated itself to addressing this growing global public health problem by providing hearing assistance via smartphone. The company, SoundFest, notes that smartphones are expected to reach 70 percent penetration by 2016. Thus, SoundFest addresses the problem of hearing loss by leveraging the power of smartphones to deliver a hearing solution that it calls "cost-effective, convenient and uniquely capable." [Moderaor snip] The company's website is www.soundfestinc.com. Copyright 2012 The MetroWest Daily News. Some rights reserved http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/lifestyle/health/x21086760/Framingham-entrepreneur-phones-in-help-for-hearing-loss -or- http://tinyurl.com/9ycul75
Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2012 15:49:10 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Cisco, Motorola, Netgear Team Up To Expose Wifi Patent Bully Message-ID: <k51v3m$hel$1@dont-email.me> Cisco, Motorola, Netgear Team Up To Expose Wifi Patent Bully Last year, we wrote about a crazy patent troll, named Innovatio, who had sued a ton of restaurants and hotels, claiming that anyone who used WiFi was violating its patents. It was even claiming that individuals who use WiFi at home infringed too -- but that it wouldn't go after them "at this time." Instead, it preferred to focus on shaking down tons of small businesses, offering to settle for $2,500 to $3,000 -- which is cheaper than hiring a lawyer to fight it, no matter how bogus. We noted at the time that Motorola and Cisco had gone to court to try to get a declaratory judgment to protect its customers. Well, it seems that the effort to stop these lawsuits has been taken to the next level. Cisco, Motorola and Netgear have now filed an amended complaint which rips Innovatio apart, and doesn't just seek a declaratory judgment of non-infringement, but outlines a parade of lawbreaking by Innovatio, arguing that it's actually involved in racketeering and conspiracy among other things. http://www.techdirt.com/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:08:44 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: DHS: Our Reports To Congress Are Successful Lies Message-ID: <k5208d$pu2$1@dont-email.me> This is from TechDirt: > From the "Yeah, we already kinda figured" dept > > Okay, it's official. I no longer believe that our Department of > Homeland Security is an actual government agency with important work > to do. No, I now believe that it is a series of highly subtle > performance art pieces designed to make us laugh at the sheer > audacity of dumb government. We already know about the agency's > boss, who is in charge of cybersecurity, not bothering to use the > internet. And then there is the DHS's highly touted fusion centers > being both a waste of money and a detriment to the very freedoms > they're supposedly protecting. For the rest, see: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121004/18132820601/dhs-our-reports-to-congress-are-successful-bullshit.shtml This is a very interesting insight into the bureaucratic mind, on many different levels. Let's see - just off the top of my head ... 1. The Department of Homeland Security believes that not being caught in a lie is the same thing as telling the truth. 2. DHS feels that members of Congress are just like any other consumer of their spin-doctored output. 3. DHS did this in an election year. The actions of a Cabinet-level governmetn agency, taken in the middle of a presidential election, are a harbinger of the next step in the downfall of the United States. Our "Civil Servants" have started to treat the our elected representatives exactly like any other target of propaganda anywhere in the world. It is ... what's the word I'm searching for? ... Kafkaesque. Bill - - Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly) ***** Moderator's Note ***** Relevence to telecom? Yeah, that's a tough one. Well, there are two kinds of censorship: you can cut off offending views, or you can put out a boatload of carp that buries what your opponents say and makes everyone want to ignore it because it is tainted by a vile smell. The DHS has chosen the later option. It remains to be seen if the Congress will allow such Bush-league competitors on their turf. Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:23:07 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Congress: Be Afraid of the Big Red Menace! Message-ID: <k5213b$vob$1@dont-email.me> This is also from TechDirt: Congress: Fear Chinese Networking Companies! But Ignore That China Makes All Our Networking Equipment! from the where's-the-smoking-gun? dept For years, there have been reports or whispers about how Chinese networking giant, Huawei, might not be trustworthy. Specifically, people talked about how China might hide trojan horses in the equipment for economic espionage or even cyberattack reasons. These rumors got so loud that Huawei last year flat out told the US government to investigate it and come to its own conclusion. Well, the House Intelligence Committee has done exactly that... and Huawei is not pleased. Despite the investigation coming at its own request, with its promises to be as open as it could be, the report slams Huawei and another company ZTE, and basically says "don't trust these companies." Now, I'm a red-blooded, right-thinking, gun-^h^h^h^hfreedom-loving Americun jest like everyone else, and I saw this on thet TV program "60 Minutiae" so I know it's really true. I'm calling on all you other patriots to write to your Congresscritter and tell it to vote for more money for our Nitionel Defens! Bill, who just looked up the definition of "Stockholm Syndrome" and read "See 'Tea Party'". -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly) ***** Moderator's Note ***** Relationship to telecom? Try this: if the government is trying to make people afraid of having any of the Internet traffic routed through a foreign country, then that infers that all the traffic in this country is subject to monitoring. That includes VoIP, of course, but I think you get the point. Bill Horne Moderator
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