TELECOM Digest Mon, 8 Nov 93 21:08:45 CST Volume 13 : Issue 746 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A.Townson Re: VCR Plus+ Codes (Barrey Jewall) Re: VCR Plus+ Codes (Robert Cohen) Re: Sri Lanka is Joining the Internet (Lars Poulsen) Re: Sri Lanka is Joining the Internet (Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond) Re: Sri Lanka is Joining the Internet (Dale Williams) Re: The Modem Tax Scare ... Again (John R. Levine) Re: Dialing From the UK With Sprint (Alan Hales) Re: Dialing From the UK With Sprint (Garrett Wollman) Re: Don't Overlook Smaller Long Distance Companies! (Clarence Dold) Re: Don't Overlook Smaller Long Distance Companies! (Jack Decker) Re: Don't Overlook Smaller Long Distance Companies! (Bob Schwartz) Re: Great Lakes Long Distance (Ken Hoehn) PC Pursuit no Longer Accepting New Users (Dan Goemon) Looking For Automatic File Transfer/Software Distribution Program (T. Hull) Looking For Docs on 'SATCOM 1-4 SYSTEM' Home Exchange (Koos van den Hout) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: barrey@Novell.COM (Barrey Jewall) Subject: Re: VCR Plus+ Codes Organization: Novell, Inc. Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1993 00:06:27 GMT In larson@net.com (Alan Larson) writes: > For those in US: > wuarchive.wustl.edu in /usenet/alt.sources/articles/7020.Z I ftp'd this, and compiled it with no problems. Subject to its limits, it works well. I enclose part of the readme.txt file, for your edification: | There are a few weak spots in these programs. | | 1. They only work for the usual kinds of tv shows, | a. Must start on an even half-hour or hour | b. Must end on an even half-hour or hour | | 2. They only handle VCRPLUS code values that are 1-6 digits | long (these are the ones that start and end on | half-hour or hour boundaries) | | 3. Both programs ask for today's date. They should | instead get this from the computer itself but that is | too much involved with O/S details. | | 4. Integers are used everywhere, even for time_of_day. | a. You need to use a 32-bit computer | b. So, nine o clock at night, comes out 2100 | | 5. The VCRPLUS hardware uses "channel mapping" for | channel numbers above 19, and for cable tv stations. | Just decode some VCRPLUS code numbers from each unusual | channel and get the "mapped channel" numbers. For | example in this area the VCRPLUS people have | mapped cable station ESPN to "channel 22". Bah Barrey Jewall - Network Admin. - Novell, Inc. - San Jose - barrey@novell.com- I don't speak for Novell, and they don't speak for me. ------------------------------ From: robc@netcom.com (Robert Cohen) Subject: Re: VCR Plus+ Codes Organization: Calif. Home for the Unruly Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1993 07:57:41 GMT You might try /info-mac/util/mac-vcr-plus.hqx at sumex-aim.stanford.edu. Haven't tried it but know it is there. Robert Cohen robc@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: lars@spectrum.CMC.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: Re: Sri Lanka is Joining the Internet Organization: CMC Network Products, Copenhagen DENMARK Date: Mon, 8 Nov 93 20:08:49 GMT In article pjb@23kgroup.com writes: > Does anyone have any idea why it was necessary or even meaningful for > Gore or anyone representing the U.S. Government to sign or even be a > part of Sri Lanka's joining the Internet? What rights or control > does the U.S. think they have over Internet access? Is there > something here that I am missing, or is this just more Clinton/Gore > meddling? The Internet is widely privatized, but a major part of it is located in the USA. The Federal Networking Council reserves the right to determine which networks can be reached from the USA. For instance, nodes in the former Soviet Union cannot be reached from the USA and vice versa, because neither the NSFnet backbone nor the CIX carries their routes. (Just try "traceroute kremvax.demos.su" from within the US versus from any site in Europe.) Presumably, this agreement provides Sri Lanka with connectivity to the USA. Thus the government involvement. This agreement should please Arthur C. Clarke. Lars Poulsen Internet E-mail: lars@CMC.COM CMC Network Products Phone: (011-) +45-31 49 81 08 Hvidovre Strandvej 72 B Telefax: +45-31 49 83 08 DK-2650 Hvidovre, DENMARK Internets: designed and built while you wait ------------------------------ From: Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1993 13:34:05 +0000 Organization: Imperial College, London, UK. Subject: Re: Sri Lanka is Joining the Internet In article , RANDY@MPA15AB.mv-oc.Unisys. COM writes: > Sri Lanka is joining the Internet, a worldwide computer network that > connects computer users in more than 100 countries (UPI, 10/20/93). > "By connecting universities, schools and laboratories in Sri Lanka to > the Internet, the U.S. hopes to foster cooperation between the people > of our country and the people of Sri Lanka in all fields of science, > technology and the environment," said U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who > signed the Internet access agreement with Sri Lanka Prime Minister > Ramil Wickremashighe. I am quite surprised about this press release. Sri Lanka has been reacheable by electronic mail for more than a year, and they already have an extensive UUCP network. I guess that all what they asked for was money [$$$] from the U.S to replace UUCP dialup with leased lines/satellite transmission. The U.S must be feeling rich, I guess. ;-> Olivier M.J. Crepin-Leblond, Digital Comms. Section, Elec. Eng. Department Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London SW7 2BT, UK Internet/Bitnet: - Janet: ------------------------------ From: dale@icm1.icp.net (Dale Williams) Subject: Re: Sri Lanka is Joining the Internet Date: 9 Nov 1993 00:32:04 GMT Organization: Sprint In article , pjb@23kgroup.com (Paul J. Bell) wrote: > Does anyone have any idea why it was necessary or even meaningful for > Gore or anyone representing the U.S. Government to sign or even be a > part of Sri Lanka's joining the Internet? What rights or control > does the U.S. think they have over Internet access? Is there > something here that I am missing, or is this just more Clinton/Gore > meddling? I wasn't at the meeting obviously, but as the NSF's International Connections Manager, I can report what I hear nth hand. When Gore met with Wickremashighe, he asked how the US might help Sri Lanka. Wickremashighe replied that his first priority request was for Internet access! ( Like many foreign countries, Sri Lanka is anxious for access to the US 'domestic' internet, both for the US based services available, AND for international connectivity. Most foreign countries 'home' or 'hub' to the US internet. Traffic from Scandinavia to Germany goes via the US, for example.) The problem was relayed to NSF, then to us. Sri Lanka is a little isolated from the world's communications infrastructure. We see it as an engineering "opportunity!" Dale ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 8 Nov 93 23:14 EST From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: The Modem Tax Scare ... Again Organization: I.E.C.C. > what would prevent this item from resurfacing every six months or so for a > couple of years and then the FCC or whomever really does decide to enact it, > on the theory that everyone will assume it's the same old urban legend and > not pay any attention to it? The FCC being a government bureaucracy, can't sneeze without doing the paperwork first. If they were going to change the rules related to connections of data carriers to the PSTN, there'd have to be a docket number, comment period, and all the other bureaucratic stuff. If we see a modem tax proposal with a current date and docket number, then it's time to be concerned. The outcry to Congress was so loud last time that I doubt we'll be seeing it again any time soon. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ From: alan@dadd.ti.com (Alan Hales) Subject: Re: Dialing From the UK With Sprint Organization: Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas TX Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1993 05:19:44 GMT Rich Mintz wrote: > This won't work for many of the newer modems. You must also specify AT > X3 (X <= 3) so that the modem doesn't refuse to "dial" because there > is no dial tone present. Thrown all on one line, one would say > "ATX3D" (return). A simpler solution is to use "ATO", where the "O" stands for "on-line". This will bypass any tests for dial tone. Alan Hales alan@dadd.ti.com ------------------------------ From: wollman@trantor.emba.uvm.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: Dialing From the UK With Sprint Organization: University of Vermont, EMBA Computer Facility Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1993 00:21:02 GMT In article , Rich Mintz wrote: > This won't work for many of the newer modems. You must also specify AT > X3 (X <= 3) so that the modem doesn't refuse to "dial" because there > is no dial tone present. Thrown all on one line, one would say > "ATX3D" (return). Have so many people forgotten their ``AT'' command set? (Well, maybe they have, now that computers remember it for them.) The command to use is ``ATO'' (`O' is for `Originate'), which should be entered once the other side has started sending its answer tones. Garrett A. Wollman wollman@emba.uvm.edu uvm-gen!wollman UVM disagrees. ------------------------------ From: dold@rahul.net (Clarence Dold) Subject: Re: Don't Overlook Smaller Long Distance Companies! Organization: a2i network Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1993 04:40:57 GMT Jack Decker (ao944@yfn.ysu.edu) wrote: > Just a word of advice to all: If you are looking for great deals on > long distance service, don't overlook the small carriers that may be California allows Intra-LATA services, as part of a package of call detailing, along with some amount of required Inter-LATA service. That disclaimed, NVTS/Ameritel does offer Dialers at no charge, has been doing so for over 10 years, and services a fair portion of Northern California. NVTS/Ameritel 800-799-7000 707-257-3875 Clarence A Dold - dold@rahul.net - Milpitas (near San Jose) & Napa CA. ------------------------------ From: ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) Subject: Re: Don't Overlook Smaller Long Distance Companies! Date: 8 Nov 1993 12:07:56 GMT Organization: Youngstown State/Youngstown Free-Net On Mon Nov 1 22:41:15 1993, gkj@konichiwa.cc.columbia.edu (Gregory K. Johnson) wrote: > I'm not going to quarrel with your basic advice about shopping around > for long distance carriers. However, I feel compelled to note that > the rates you are quoting for this particular long-distance calling > plan do not seem to be all that great of a bargain. > When I established telephone service in San Jose, I selected Sprint as > my long distance carrier. When I established the account with Sprint, > I inquired about discount long-distance calling plans. > I ended up selecting their service which is similar to Reach Out > America, i.e. you purchase an hour of calls at a particular price (I > think in this case it was about $8, or less) and then all your calls > at off-peak hours beyond the first hour are billed by the minute. > The rate for calls at off-peak hours under this calling plan was ten > cents per minute, which is significantly cheaper than the 11.4 cents > per minute described above. It also doesn't have as much overhead > cost ($8 for the first hour is $2 above the cost of the flat-rate per > minute cost, versus $5 for this plan. > Sprint also doesn't have a 15 month minimum contract. MCI has similar plans for off-peak calling (I don't know if it's still available, but they used to have a plan called Super Saver that let you make calls on Saturday for $5.00/hour. Then, if you are calling someone in your Friends & Family circle, you may get another 20% off of that, which would bring the effective rate down to $4.00/hour, or six and two thirds cents per minute, which of course is considerably under the 11.4 cents per minute in the plan I mentioned). But, the customer for the service I mentioned (the one I was rate-shopping for) has a small business and will be making the vast majority of his calls during the daytime rate period, and probably few or none during the night rate period. For his intended usage, the 13 cents per minute daytime rate is far more important than a slightly lower evening rate. And none of the big three carriers (in fact, NO other carrier that I'm aware of) will give you calls of less than 32 seconds for free, which to me is a definite plus when you play a lot of "telephone tag". One other thing I did not mention in my original post is that this particular carrier offers intraLATA calling (within the same area code) by dialing 1-700 + number. One problem with the "big three" is that many of their best rates apply to interstate calls only (or at the very least, you have to pay extra if you want the intrastate calling plan, and often the per-minute rates aren't quite as good). With this smaller Michigan-only carrier, the rates apply to both in-state and out-of-state calls. Of course, since it's a flat rate, it may be possible that calls to very nearby toll points would actually be a bit higher with this carrier, but the customer in question is in a rural area that is in the fortunate (and highly unusual for Michigan!) position of having all immediately adjacent exchanges as local calls, and most of his nearby calls are to points where Ameritech's basic rate is considerably higher than 13 cents per minute. And of course, he could always force calls through another carrier (or let intraLATA calls default to Ameritech) if he ever finds it advantageous to do so. As for the 15 month contract, again keep in mind that it's not binding until you've had the service for three months. Prior to that, you can get out at any time, with no penalty (they'll even pay for you to switch back to your original carrier). I'm not crazy about the contract but I don't think it's particularly onerous, either. Ameritech does the same thing; if you want to get on some of their better calling plans you have to make a commitment for some period of time (which I believe can run as long as 36 months, but don't quote me on that). For the benefit of Pat, and others who asked, the company offering this service is called Metronet, and they are located in Holt, Michigan (near Lansing). They do NOT offer service outside of Michigan, nor in the Detroit metropolitan area (yet), nor in the areas served by GTE in the Muskegon area (yet). I also do not think they serve the Upper Peninsula. The other company I mentioned in my original post (that offers reasonably-priced 800 service in most of Michigan and parts of Indiana) is called Teledial, and is headquartered in Grand Rapids (but has sales offices in a few other Michigan cities and in Indianapolis, Indiana). Their Dial-1 rates are also pretty good, but in my opinion, not as good as Metronet's for small business customers. I'm not connected with either of these companies in any way. I'm certainly not implying that no one can do better than either of these companies, particularly if you are a residential customer and/or most of your calls are during the night/weekend rate period. I'm just saying that for many customers, the "big three" carriers may not offer the best rates, particularly if the vast majority of your calls are intrastate or intraLATA. Jack ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Don't Overlook Smaller Long Distance Companies! From: bob@bci.nbn.com (Bob Schwartz) Date: Mon, 08 Nov 93 16:50:29 PST Organization: Bill Correctors, Inc., Marin County, California gkj@konichiwa.cc.columbia.edu (Gregory K. Johnson) writes: > In article , Jack Decker > wrote: >> Just a word of advice to all: If you are looking for great deals on >> long distance service, don't overlook the small carriers that may be >> operating in your state or region. I'm not going to mention names of >> specific companies, but here's a couple of deals I've found (in doing >> some research for a friend) that are especially attractive in low to >> moderate calling volume situations. > The rate for calls at off-peak hours under this calling plan was ten > cents per minute, which is significantly cheaper than the 11.4 cents > per minute described above. It also doesn't have as much overhead > cost ($8 for the first hour is $2 above the cost of the flat-rate per > minute cost, versus $5 for this plan. > But my basic point is this: thus far I haven't seen anything that > seems to be a better deal than service with the major three long > distance companies. If rate were the only consideration I'd agree with you but ... generally, it's the smaller companies that can handle your Service Area Traffic while the big three can't/don't. Also billing and features flexability is sometimes better from the small players. Answer supervision as it relates to billing accuracy is also important and this can slice either way. Smaller companies are more likely to *inadvertantly* inflate your bill with unanswered calls or even more likely a longer average hold time which can add 30% to your monthly amount due. Smaller companies are also more likely to have liberal refund policies because of this (this is the advantage that slices in their favor :). If your in an area where Service Area doesn't mean much and you dont have the time to track average hold times the majors do have lots of flexible billing plans and reports as well as competative rates. Bob Schwartz bob@bci.nbn.com Bill Correctors, Inc. +1 415 488 9000 Marin County, California ------------------------------ From: kenh@w8hd.org (Ken Hoehn) Subject: Re: Great Lakes Long Distance Date: 8 Nov 1993 09:31:17 -0500 Organization: The w8hd Group bailey@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Bill Leeke) writes: > I just received a mailing from Great Lakes Long Distance. They promise > calls 10% to 21% cheaper than the standard direct dial rate. The funny > thing is you don't have to change your long distance carrier. Just use > an access code simular to the ATT operator code. (10923) + number. I have used Great Lakes for about a month, since I live in the sticks a 1 call away from everything. Matter of fact, this message is being typed into my serving system via them. Have not seen the bills yet, but the line quality is fine. kenh@w8hd.org Ken Hoehn - Teletech, Inc. Compuserve: 70007,2374 N8NYO P.O.Box 924 FAX: (313) 562-8612 Dearborn, MI 48121 VOICE: (313) 562-6873 ------------------------------ From: Goemon Subject: PC Pursuit no Longer Accepting New Users Date: Mon, 8 Nov 93 13:18:58 EST Organization: Ohio State University; Physics Department I called PC Pursuit's information line (1-800-736-1130) and although it was past their business hours, there was a recorded message. It stated that PC Pursuit is NO LONGER ACCEPTING NEW USERS, effective November 1. What is the thinking behind that? Aren't they in this to try to MAKE money? I would think they would want as many subscribers as possible to make it cost effective. Or is this another typical Sprint anal retentive move? Dan ------------------------------ From: terryh@engin.umich.edu (Terry Hull) Subject: Looking For Automatic File Transfer/Software Distribution Program Date: 8 Nov 1993 03:55:42 GMT Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor I am looking for some automatic unattended file transfer programs running on Sun SparcStations. But first let me describe what my company has right now. There are 40 branch offices across USA. Everyday, each branch offices will be sending data to and receiving data from the central office. We are currently using RemoteWare from XcellNet to do the job. The RemoteWare Server runs on OS/2 PC residing in the central office, and each branch office has a RemoteWare node runs on a DOS PC. This is a master slave relation between the Server and The nodes. The Server part of the RemoteWare has the scheduling ability. You can program it so that it will initiate calls to the nodes via modem. While this works fine, it is approaching its capacity to handle larger volume of data. Now, we are seeking a similar product, but it should run on SparcStations, and should support both modem dial-up and also IP-based transport mechanisam. I was told that a company call CMI has a similar product. But I don't know anything more besides that. At this moment, we are open to all ideas. If you know anything about this, or have heard of similar products, please drop a line. All help will be greatly appreciated. ------------------------------ From: koos@kzdoos.hacktic.nl (Koos van den Hout) Subject: Looking For Docs on 'SATCOM 1-4 SYSTEM' Home Exchange Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1993 22:17:00 GMT Organization: HIN / BBS Koos z'n Doos I'm looking for documentation on a little exchange (one outside line, four phone sets) I got from someone. It seems to only work with pulse dial. But I hope this can be changed. Some identifying characteristics (I hope): On the (gray-beige) cover it says 'SATCOM 1-4 SYSTEM'. The main circuit board has a marking 'SATCOM PBTM 001S'. The largest microchip on the circuit board is a 'HD6301YOP'. Does anybody have any information on this exchange? Can it be modified/ programmed to accept DTMF? How can I transfer a call to another extension? Grtx. Koos van den Hout ----------------------------------------------- Sysop --\ Datacomm, networking, E-mail... BBS Koos z'n Doos (+31-3402-56619 2400) Inter-: koos@kzdoos.hacktic.nl (+31-3402-36647 14400 v32b v42b MNP5) net : koos@hacktic.nl| PGP key by finger | Fido: Sysop @ 2:500/101.11012 Schurftnet : KILL !!! | koos@hacktic.nl | Give us a call !! ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #746 ****************************** ****************************************************************************** Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253