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The Telecom Digest for January 24, 2014
Volume 33 : Issue 18 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Re: Google Glass-wearing movie patron questioned by Homeland Security agents as potential pirate (danny burstein)
Re: Wall plug wires? (HAncock4)
Verizon Revenue Climbs on Sturdy Mobile Growth (Monty Solomon)
Google to acquire Nest for $3.2 billion (Monty Solomon)
Re: Wall plug wires? (T)
Re: Wall plug wires? (Bill Horne)
Re: Wall plug wires? (Neal McLain)
Verizon Plans to Buy Intel Media Division to Expand Its Television Services (Monty Solomon)
What you need to know about the court decision that just struck down net neutrality (Monty Solomon)
Theft of Data Fuels Worries in South Korea (Monty Solomon)
Re: Aereo's Supreme Court battle may change how you watch TV (Neal McLain)
Re: Google Glass-wearing movie patron questioned by Homeland Security agents as potential pirate (tlvp)

====== 32 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.
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Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 05:17:12 +0000 (UTC) From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Google Glass-wearing movie patron questioned by Homeland Security agents as potential pirate Message-ID: <lbq8ko$gff$1@reader1.panix.com> In <p06240844cf04fbcc79d6@[172.16.42.4]> Telecom Digest Moderator wrote: >What is ICE doing questioning people who aren't crossing a border? ICE ("Immigration and Customs Enforcement", which is now part of Homeland Security) is tasked, among other duties, with investigating ... copyright issues. Quoting from their web page [a] "ICE HSI is the largest investigative arm in the Department of Homeland Security with 6,700 special agents assigned to more than 200 cities throughout the United States and 47 countries around the world. "ICE HSI special agents investigate and enforce violations of federal trademark, copyright and patent laws..." - note that this doesn't have to be "at" the border, and, for that matter, the "border" extends a hundred miles from any crossing. Which means (as currently envisioned), all those Asterisks that limit the Bill of Rights at the border crossings can be applied pretty far inland. [a] [http://www.iprcenter.gov/partners/ice [ --- _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ***** Moderator's Note ***** I know that ICE is doing it: I just don't understand why. All their training is about catching lawbreakers at choke points: they're not equipped, in either equipment or attitude, to apprehend criminals whom are able to move their operations on a moment's notice. This should be handled by the FBI. Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 08:03:14 -0800 (PST) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Wall plug wires? Message-ID: <ce2e1859-7446-45a4-aace-23cbc5f36e2a@googlegroups.com> On Tuesday, January 21, 2014 6:09:47 PM UTC-5, tlvp wrote: > On an old Princess phone here, red/green are ring/tip and yellow/black are > for 6 VAC (from a Bell Co. wall-wart) for illuminating the phone's lamps. Older model Princess and Trimline sets had a tiny incandescent lamp to illuminate the dial* when the phone was in use. As mentioned, this was powered by a small plug-in transformer. This was for illumination only and was not necessary in the regular use of the telephone set. If only one telephone set was powered, usually a power outlet near the phone was utilized. However, if multiple sets within a home were powered, then a transformer was plugged in a central location. Many years ago an alert went out for certain models of that central transformer being a fire hazard. Later model (mid 1970s) Princess and Trimline sets used LEDs to illuminate the dial. These were powered from the telephone line and needed no transformer. I don't know if rotary dial telephone sets will operate on modern VOIP-based lines. (In one sense, my guess is that they should because 'flashing' (sending a 1/2 second pulse for Call-Waiting or 3-way-calling) is still a standard signal, and the base station would have to accept such signals.) Rotary sets will not operate on ISDN or digital lines, but these lines require special sets. *Back in the 1950s some 500 sets had a little mushroom dial lamp atop the dial. ***** Moderator's Note ***** Does anyone make phone sets that will connect directly to a two-wire ISDN line? All the ones I know about have "T" (i.e., four wire) interfaces, and so require an adapter. Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 22:10:23 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Verizon Revenue Climbs on Sturdy Mobile Growth Message-ID: <p06240820cf04e6f9984f@[172.16.42.4]> Verizon Revenue Climbs on Sturdy Mobile Growth By REUTERS JAN. 21, 2014 NEW YORK - Verizon Communications Inc reported faster subscriber growth and stronger profits than expected at its Verizon Wireless venture with Vodafone Group Plc, easing some concerns about intensifying competition if only temporarily. Investors are worried market leader Verizon Wireless, which is paying $130 billion for Vodafone's 45 percent share in their venture, will cut prices as discounts from No. 4 U.S. mobile service T-Mobile U.S. have drawn responses from No. 2 service AT&T Inc and No. 3 ranked Sprint Corp. ... http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2014/01/21/business/21reuters-verizon-earnings.html
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 23:29:59 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Google to acquire Nest for $3.2 billion Message-ID: <p06240841cf04f993f47c@[172.16.42.4]> Google to acquire Nest for $3.2 billion Jon Swartz, USA TODAY 10:13 p.m. EST January 13, 2014 SAN FRANCISCO - Google intends to make even more of a splash in Americans' homes. On Monday, it reached a deal to buy Nest, the maker of highly-styled digital smoke alarms and thermostats, for $3.2 billion in cash. Nest, based in Palo Alto, Calif., has generated lots of buzz and sterling reviews for its aesthetic design approach to common everyday home appliances often overlooked by consumers. ... http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/01/13/google-to-acquire-nest-for-32-billion/4459879/
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 00:51:12 -0500 From: T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Wall plug wires? Message-ID: <MPG.2d4a77df5ebe2fd5989f36@news.eternal-september.org> In article <prKdnYkb_rhAqkLPnZ2dnUVZ_oOdnZ2d@giganews.com>, Retired@home.com says... > > On 1/21/14, 6:09 PM, tlvp wrote: > > On Tue, 21 Jan 2014 10:51:55 +0000 (UTC), Bit Twister wrote: > > > >> ... The problem is, I fear the house alarm controller might be in series > >> between the telco line and the wall sockets. > >> > >> Let's say there are 4 wires on an inside phone wall plug, red, green, > >> black, yellow. What [are] the yellow and black wires for? > > > > On an old Princess phone here, red/green are ring/tip and yellow/black are > > for 6 VAC (from a Bell Co. wall-wart) for illuminating the phone's lamps. > > > >> Assuming red/green are the wires for my phone number, which color > >> would be for tip according to code and which side of the wall plate > >> should it be connected? Same question for the black/yellow wires. > > > > According to the wikipedia page / anchor > > > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_jack#Powered_version_of_RJ11 > > : > > > > : Pins 2 and 5 (black and yellow) may carry low voltage AC or DC power. > > : While the phone line itself (tip and ring) supplies enough power for most > > : telephone terminals, old telephone instruments with incandescent dial > > : lights in them (such as the classic Western Electric Princess and Trimline > > : telephone models) needed different voltages than the phone line supplies. > > : Typically, the power on Pins 2 and 5 came from a transformer plugged into > > : a power outlet near one jack, wired to supply power to just that telephone > > : (or to all of the jacks in the house, depending on local ... practices). > > > > I'd be very shocked to learn the yellow/black were meant for 120 VAC ... > > very shocked indeed (double entendre intended) :-) . Cheers, -- tlvp > > > > The Y/B pair could also be used for: > > RJ-14 = 2 pots lines in one jack > > RJ-48 = Receive pair of a 4 wire T-1/DS-1 circuit or subrate DDS > > Receive pair of a 4 wire analog modem circuit (Type 3002) Anyone who was running a T-1/DS-1 over D type wiring should be drawn, quartered and then shot. The cross talk would be something awful in that type of wire and do stuttering wonders for a data circuit.
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 15:15:20 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Wall plug wires? Message-ID: <20140123201520.GB10744@telecom.csail.mit.edu> On Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 12:51:12AM -0500, T wrote: > Anyone who was running a T-1/DS-1 over D type wiring should be drawn, > quartered and then shot. The cross talk would be something awful in that > type of wire and do stuttering wonders for a data circuit. I was a tech at New England Telephone, and we used shielded twisted pair for T1 lines on the frame. I remember that it was a PITA to ground the shields sometimes: we had to solder pieces of wire to the shield-ends and tie them down under a mounting screw. I don't know why, but some of the T1 repeater blocks had no ground lugs on them. For some reason, the techs used to use the same cable - shielded twisted pair - to connect fault locate circuits and order wires. I dug out the "T" diagram and showed the foreman that it called for regular cross-connects, but to get him to believe me, I had to claim that the third-liner in Engineering had told me about it. Bill -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly) Oh, look out kid, it's somethin' you did God knows when but you're doing it again. - Bob Dylan
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 22:48:42 -0800 (PST) From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Wall plug wires? Message-ID: <25a2b9e7-6547-481a-9216-fd6ae49b170c@googlegroups.com> The alarm system interface is USOC RJ-13X defined in 47 CFR 68.502(b)(1). As described in the FCC Rules and Regulations 47 CFR §68 (1997): +--------------------------------------------------------------+ 68.502(b)(1) Series T/R ahead of all station equipment: 8-position series jack. Electrical Network Connection: Series tip and right ahead of all station equipment. Conductors 2,3,6. and 7 are reserved for telephone company use. Universal Service Order code (USOC): RJ31X. Mechanical arrangement: Miniature 8 position series jack. Wiring Diagram: (wiring diagram appears on the following page) +--------------------------------------------------------------+ Source: FCC Rules and Regulations (1997), Part 68 - Connection of terminal Equipment to the telephone Network. A Copy of the 1997 edition of Part 68 is posted at: http://theoldcatvequipmentmuseum.org/200/201/2014/OldPart68/OldPart68.pdf The text quoted above appears on page 397 (PDF page 137/157). The wiring diagram appears at the top of page 398 (PDF page 138/157). The 1997 edition of the FCC Rules is the last edition in which the FCC published wiring diagrams. Since 1998, wiring diagrams have been published by the Administrative Council for Terminal Attachments. http://www.part68.org/ Neal McLain
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 22:08:19 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Verizon Plans to Buy Intel Media Division to Expand Its Television Services Message-ID: <p0624081ecf04e64b6f7b@[172.16.42.4]> Verizon Plans to Buy Intel Media Division to Expand Its Television Services By BRIAN X. CHEN and QUENTIN HARDY JAN. 21, 2014 SAN FRANCISCO - Verizon Communications wants to make TV available whenever customers have an Internet connection, and on whatever screen they are looking at. On Tuesday, the company announced a shot in the arm for those ambitions. The company said it planned to buy the intellectual property and assets of Intel Media, the digital TV division of the chip maker Intel, which developed a solution to offer channels over the Internet to screens of different sizes, from smartphones to big-screen TVs ... http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/22/technology/verizon-to-expand-tv-services-with-intel-media-purchase.html
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 23:27:52 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: What you need to know about the court decision that just struck down net neutrality Message-ID: <p06240840cf04f8fbd0ca@[172.16.42.4]> What you need to know about the court decision that just struck down net neutrality by Mathew Ingram JAN. 14, 2014 SUMMARY: On Tuesday, an appeals court in Washington, D.C. struck down the FCC's rules regarding net neutrality, which are designed to prevent ISPs from giving preferential treatment to certain kinds of data. Here's what you need to know about the decision and its potential impact ... http://gigaom.com/2014/01/14/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-court-decision-that-just-struck-down-net-neutrality/
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 22:38:59 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Theft of Data Fuels Worries in South Korea Message-ID: <p06240830cf04eda32837@[172.16.42.4]> Theft of Data Fuels Worries in South Korea By CHOE SANG-HUN JAN. 20, 2014 SEOUL, South Korea - A string of senior executives at three credit card companies in South Korea offered to resign on Monday after a huge theft of client data that may have affected 20 million people in this nation of 50 million. The case became known this month when prosecutors arrested a 39-year-old technician hired by the Korea Credit Bureau, a ratings firm that the credit card companies had hired to help improve their systems to protect client data. It was subsequently disclosed that the man stole personal information on 104 million credit cards issued by the KB Financial Group, the NongHyup Financial Group and Lotte Card. The man, identified only his last name, Park, stole the data from May 2012 to December 2013, copying it onto a USB device, prosecutors said. The data included the names, phone and South Korean social security numbers, email and residential addresses, salaries, monthly card use and other credit-rating information of clients, the Financial Supervisory Service, a regulatory agency, said in a statement. In many cases, card numbers were stolen as well. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/21/business/international/theft-of-data-fuels-worries-in-south-korea.html
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 21:37:38 -0800 (PST) From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Aereo's Supreme Court battle may change how you watch TV Message-ID: <df4963d7-490e-4ddc-8fcd-168f29156d0d@googlegroups.com> Bill Horne wrote: > Mass media is, and always will be, geared to the lowest common > denominator of public taste and perception. I don't claim to be one > of the elites, or even a professional critic of television, but it > seems to me that TV has been pandering to its viewers preconceived > notions to the exclusion of divergent views, of well-considered > debate, and (most importantly) of any objective views or insights > into our leaders' real lives and backgrounds... Bingo. I've long thought that CNN could regain some of its original "news" brand by actually covering national and world news. Instead of live actualities of stuff like the latest Hollywood dustup, how about a one-hour daily report from the front lines of the endless wars going on in the Middle East and Africa? They certainly have the talent and the facilities -- remember their coverage of the early days of the First Iraq War. After all, when it was founded CNN stood for Cable News Network. Neal McLain
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 15:21:50 -0500 From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Google Glass-wearing movie patron questioned by Homeland Security agents as potential pirate Message-ID: <1ejkrki4y4c2k.1oqcq4alu8y1r.dlg@40tude.net> On Tue, 21 Jan 2014 23:39:32 -0500, Moderator asked: > What is ICE doing questioning people who aren't crossing a border? Well, in NM and AZ, at least, they're ascertaining whether people about 250 north of the Mexican border, and aimed north, might perhaps *have crossed* a border illegally. Nothing to worry about, if you're a US citizen, 'cuz US citizens require no documentation -- unless ICE won't readily believe you're a US citizen, in which case it's helpful to have with you the sort of documents US citizens are said not to require, e.g., US birth certificate, or US Citizenship/Naturalization paper, or US Passport. In cinemas, on the other hand, I'm not entirely sure :-) . Cheers, -- tlvp -- Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.
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.
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