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

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The Telecom Digest for November 10, 2013
Volume 32 : Issue 228 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Re: Does FiOS support rotary phones? (bigbadpiratetom)
Re: Looking for a good home: Radio Shack CPA-1000 phone number logger (Michael Muderick)
Fwd: Glaring Hole in iPhone security (Julian Thomas)

====== 32 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======

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Date: Sat, 9 Nov 2013 08:33:28 -0800 (PST) From: bigbadpiratetom@gmail.com To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Does FiOS support rotary phones? Message-ID: <12f39189-15b5-4a4e-bf5c-c6edd88d89c2@googlegroups.com> It is surprising that modern 'digital' telephone systems often don't support rotary-dial, since rotary-dial is a digital system. It uses pulse count modulation. In the U.S., there is one pulse for a 1, and ten for a 0, and respective for all other numbers. Regardless of being electronic or mechanical, it is sending out a series of 'bits' that are counted by either an electronic or electro-mechanical system. Most modern POTS systems use computers instead of cross-bar switches, and are fully capable of recognizing POTS. I also have dialed a very rare few business whose automated telephone systems do in fact recognize pulse-count modulation. There is no good reason why more systems don't support rotary-dial other than they are fond of making a legacy system obsolete, which seems to please so many die-hard modernists. The rotary-dial system is, however, the first fully automated digital dialing system, as Philco's rotary-dial Mystery Control was the first wireless all-digital remote control.
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2013 06:10:54 -0500 From: Michael Muderick <michael@muderick.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Looking for a good home: Radio Shack CPA-1000 phone number logger Message-ID: <CAGhQzTrAYAfX0t-SFQ1JDBhUipNkbEHe-aYy+3S_Uc5eAJM_WA@mail.gmail.com> On Tue, 29 Oct 2013 14:04:10 -0400, danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> wrote: > - if you're ok with posting this, I'd rather it find > a good home than a garbage pile. Thanks. > > This is that nifty unit that plugs into your phone line, and > prints out the numbers that are "touch toned" (dialed) from > your house. > > In other words, you get a list of all calls made from your line. > > Some more info courtesy of another person's ebay listing: > > > http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200946669646 > > > Ten dollars gets it out to you. > > - it worked when I last played with it umptity years ago, > but I can't test it here these days. > > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > I'm granting a once-in-a-while exception to the rules and allowing this > post. > > Mr. Burstein is a long-time contributor, and the device is no longer > made, and there's only a small community of people who would want one, > and the $10 won't break anyone's back. > > Please don't make a habit of it, OK? > > Bill Horne > Moderator > > P.S. The Ebay listing is NOT for this item. It's just an illustration > of the unit. I had one of those units. They sold for about $80. It also lists the duration of calls, and the time of the call, and incoming calls. The paper rolls are a bit difficult to find. I still have some, and will gladly ship them to anyone who buys the [Mr. Burstein's] unit and sends me the cost of postage. I have 4 small rolls and one large roll. They are slightly larger than the cover which covers the rolls so, my recollection is that I had to jury-rig a little roll holder to use them. I have the unit as well, with all manuals and original box. I couldn't get the unit to feed paper- and I'[m guessing the ink-roller is dry after around 25 years. There was a 1987 printout in the box....last time I used it. It's available for pickup near PHila., or pay for shipping for any or all of it. Michael -- Michael Muderick michael@muderick.com 610-449-6970
Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2013 22:11:17 -0500 From: Julian Thomas <jt@jt-mj.net> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Fwd: Glaring Hole in iPhone security Message-ID: <1235F082-D374-4CAF-9632-72ED161E006F@jt-mj.net> [This is] from a mac support list <macsupportcentral@yahoogroups.com> Begin forwarded message: > One of the medical IT blogs I read had a piece the other day about > making mobile devices compliant with the privacy provisions of the > HIPAA law. I'd be very comfortable disputing some of the > recommendations made, but one caught my eye. It noted that the > default configuration of Siri permits it to be used without logging > in, even when a password (or, I assume fingerprint recognition > system) is in place. It referred as well to an exploit that permits > an attacker to do more than just browse the Contacts and calendar of > a password-locked phone. That exploit is described here: < &http://ios.wonderhowto.com/how-to/passcode-exploit-bypass-iphones-lock-scree & n-using-siri-ios-7-0-2-send-messages-0148844/> -or- http://goo.gl/JeIsOx > However, no shenanigans at all are necessary to use Siri to try to > discover phone numbers, email addresses, p ostal addresses, spouse's > name, or calendar events on a locked phone that a miscreant picks up > off a desk. It's relatively easy to defeat this. Just go to > Settings -> Passcode Lock, enter your password, then change the > default setting in "Allow Access When Locked:" to make Siri > unavailable > Before you do, try it yourself; Ask Siri to tell you your Manager's > mobile phone, or your wife's address, or your daughter's twitter > handle. She'll be happy to oblige if the data is in your Contacts, > and she'll show you all "your" meetings on a day of your choice. jt
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