31 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981

Add this Digest to your personal   or  

The Telecom Digest for August 9, 2013
Volume 32 : Issue 168 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
How to Avoid a Smartphone's Bite (Monty Solomon)
Roam the World and Keep the Cellphone on a Budget (Monty Solomon)
Re: Only Seven Percent of TV Households Rely on Over-the-Air (Neal McLain)
What to do (and not to do) when traveling overseas with Apple gear (Monty Solomon)

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

Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. All contents here are copyrighted by Bill Horne and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using any name or email address included herein for any reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to that person, or email address owner.
Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without the explicit written consent of the owner of that address. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome.

We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime.  - Geoffrey Welsh


See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer, and other stuff of interest.


Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2013 22:03:11 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: How to Avoid a Smartphone's Bite Message-ID: <p06240805ce24b813a088@[10.0.1.5]> How to Avoid a Smartphone's Bite By SETH KUGEL SEPTEMBER 18, 2012 Correction Appended Travel and smartphones go together - and these days, texting, updating Facebook and good old tweeting-while-eating are the least of it. Instant access to Yelp, TripAdvisor and endless other apps helps with everything from choosing an entree, tracking down discounts, posting a photo and checking the traffic ahead. Add a healthy dose of old-fashioned phone calls from poolside or mountain trail, and you might say staying connected has become something close to a constitutional right. Just one catch: leave the country and your smartphone plan - much like the Constitution - no longer has you covered. As many people have learned the hard way, calling and texting while abroad can bring painful bills; using data services can lead to insolvency. That's because standard international roaming rates are outrageous: $2, $3 or even $5 a minute, 50 cents for a text message. A megabyte of data costs $15 to $20. That means that checking the status of your Facebook friends can cost about $3 or $4. That's a lot to see your high school classmate's backyard tomato plant. The good news is there are ways to save. The bad news is there are lots and lots of ways, some complementary and none perfect. Here's how I'd break it down for five kinds of budget travelers. ... http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/how-to-avoid-a-smartphones-bite/?pagewanted=all
Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2013 22:00:04 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Roam the World and Keep the Cellphone on a Budget Message-ID: <p06240802ce24b71b6646@[10.0.1.5]> Roam the World and Keep the Cellphone on a Budget By ERIC A. TAUB May 29, 2013 Getting ready for a summer vacation abroad? Then you have a lot to anticipate: fine food, great wine, historical museums - and thousand-dollar cellphone bills. Actually, overseas cellphone bills do not have to be huge anymore, as long as you do some planning. After facing years of stinging criticism that they charged exorbitant fees to subscribers traveling to other countries, several major American mobile carriers have come up with overseas calling packages that cut costs to a small fraction of what they once were. As a result, the additional cost of using a cellphone in many other countries may end up being a minor inconvenience, rather than motivation to take out a second mortgage. Unfortunately, no one solution will work for everyone. Which approach you take depends on your current carrier, the countries you are visiting and your tolerance for changing calling habits while away from home. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/technology/personaltech/packages-lower-cost-of-travel-with-a-cellphone.html?pagewanted=all
Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2013 18:43:13 -0700 (PDT) From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Only Seven Percent of TV Households Rely on Over-the-Air Message-ID: <742d31db-ecd7-4640-a29d-4d6382254a34@googlegroups.com> On Tuesday, July 30, 2013, I wrote, quoting an article posted on FierceCable on July 30, 2013: > >> ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New research released today from the >> Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) found that just seven percent >> of American TV households rely solely on an antenna for their television >> programming. The findings of the new study, U.S. Household Television >> Usage Update, are consistent with CEA's 2010 research which found eight >> percent of TV households reported using an antenna only for television http://tinyurl.com/lq6bkkx On Friday, August 2, 2013, Michael Muderick wrote, quoting an article posted on FierceOnlineVideo on June 21, 2013: > IT DEPENDS ON WHOSE STATISTICS YOU READ: > Antennas aren't just for grandma's boob tube anymore: 19.3 percent > of all US TV households get their TV fix from free over-the-air > broadcasts, according to a new GfK study released this week... Sounds like a pretty "Fierce" battle to me! Neal McLain
Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2013 22:00:04 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: What to do (and not to do) when traveling overseas with Apple gear Message-ID: <p06240803ce24b75b7542@[10.0.1.5]> What to do (and not to do) when traveling overseas with Apple gear Serenity Caldwell Jul 31, 2013 When I'm at home, I have an Apple device for almost everything. My iPhone is my travel buddy, my iPad mini is my reading and writing companion, and my computer takes on all the other heavy lifting. But for a visit to Italy earlier this year, I knew I had to pare down my collection: An iPhone, Mac, and iPad all seemed a bit unwieldy for a trip that involved a lot of walking and travel; also, you don't necessarily want to bring every piece of electronics you own to a foreign country. So instead, my companion and I made an electronics game plan. We made a list of what, between us, we should take, and packed accordingly. For the most part, we did really well. If you're planning on venturing out overseas anytime this summer, here are some of our tips. ... http://www.macworld.com/article/2045191/what-to-do-and-not-to-do-when-traveling-overseas-with-apple-gear.html
TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom- munications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to Usenet, where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Bill Horne. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. The Telecom Digest is moderated by Bill Horne.
Contact information: Bill Horne
Telecom Digest
43 Deerfield Road
Sharon MA 02067-2301
339-364-8487
bill at horne dot net
Subscribe: telecom-request@telecom-digest.org?body=subscribe telecom
Unsubscribe: telecom-request@telecom-digest.org?body=unsubscribe telecom
This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm-
unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and
published continuously since then.  Our archives are available for
your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list
on the internet in any category!

URL information: http://telecom-digest.org


Copyright (C) 2013 TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved.
Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA.

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization.

End of The Telecom Digest (4 messages)

Return to Archives ** Older Issues