TELECOM Digest Tue, 21 Dec 93 04:54:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 832 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Administrivia: The Digest and Usenet (TELECOM Digest Editor) Voicemail on the PC (Chris Nelson) How Are Telephone Calling Cards Verified (Brian Bulkowski) Privacy and Caller ID/Auto Callback? (Erik Berg) GTE Files Request re Cerritos Cable Television (Steven H. Lichter) Frequency Database VIRUS (Alfredo E. Cotroneo) New Patents Information Wanted (Mark Voorhees) T1 MUX Recommendations Wanted (Ray Wong) WDC on Orange Card Bill (Carl Moore) Re: Cable Channels (and Satellites) (Lars Poulsen) Cellphones With RJ-11 Connectors (Paul N. Hrisko) Re: TDD Software Wanted (kmcledd@delphi.com) Re: International Calls via Cable or Satellite (Carl Moore) Technical Analysis: Santa Claus Science and Myth (Dan L. Dale) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 03:56:05 -0600 From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Administrivia: The Digest and Usenet On December 8, as a result of the long and often bitter conversations in the Usenet news.groups forum regards comp.dcom.telecom.tech, the comp.dcom.telecom newsgroup and this Digest, distribution of TELECOM Digest to Usenet and the comp.dcom.telecom newsgroup was suspended. This was something that did not happen without a lot of thought as to the ramifications of the decision, and although I said at the time it would be permantently removed, I had not realized the large number of readers who would object to that decision. A few days ago, after receiving numerous comments from Usenet readers about the absence of the telecom feed, I posed a question to the members of the mailing list asking for guidance in deciding whether or not to reconnect the Usenet feed. I'm not really in favor of doing so, but the consensus was it is unfair to the Usenet readers who have various reasons for not receiving the email version of the Digest. Of 189 persons who responded, 165 said the feed should be restored. A dozen were specifically against it, saying that 'the added hassles were not worth it' (they were people who had all followed the news.groups thread; some had contributed to it. Several expressed indifference either way. Six of the respondents were quick to point out that the restoration of the telecom feed would simply start the news.group flaming all over again; others mentioned that if the feed was not restarted, the flames would continue for that reason also. It appears that either way this goes, there will continue to be criticism and flaming. Rather than unfairly punish the Usenet readers who have been without the feed since December 8, I've chosen to restore it beginning with this issue. As noted above, this is not entirely my decision, and I hope everyone will understand I am a little bit wary and more than a little weary about the continued controversy. I'm anxious to bring an end to all the fighting going on and the inconvenience this has caused the many loyal readers of the Digest who prefer to receive it on Usenet for whatever reasons. The members of the mailing list seem to in general approve of the decision, and that is what the most important to me. Finally, in the spirit of the holiday and in an effort to better serve the users of the Telecom Archives, I am extending an invitation to the proprietor of the Telecom-Tech mailing list to have it included automatically in the Archives in its own sub-directory where it will be available automatically for anyone who wants to see it or get back issues, etc. A sub-directory will be established with a special address to which Telecom-Tech should be mailed if Mr. Higdon wishes to have it automatically part of the archives of record at lcs.mit.edu. I'm not convinced these gestures will make any real difference in the way things have deteriorated in recent months; but I think its the right way to go and I'm willing to try and make it work. There is room on the net for an unmoderated telecom group, and I am willing to put aside my differences with the group's originator for the good of telecom news distribution in general. Perhaps others will put aside their differences with me for the same reasons. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ From: cnelson@sedona.intel.com (Chris Nelson~) Subject: Voicemail on the PC Date: 21 Dec 1993 01:25:52 GMT Organization: Intel Corporation Thanks for reading ... I recently purchased a used PC voicemail card, titled "The Complete Answering Machine". It is 1987 vintage and was produced by "The Complete PC, Inc.", Milpitas, CA. The company no longer has a phone number in the 408 area code. I'm looking for a lead on what company may have purchased the rights to the product. My quest is to find a later version of software that may have been produced for the card. Windows support would be most wonderful! Please send any response to this query directly to me. Thanks, Chris Nelson, N7VEC | Internet: cnelson@sedona.intel.com Intel Corp. CH5-217 | Phone: (602) 554-2799 FAX (602) 554-7830 5000 W. Chandler Blvd. | Opinions are for those who don't know the facts. Chandler, AZ 85226 | Facts are for those who don't have opinions. | These are my opinions, not Intel's ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Dec 93 00:03:43 EST From: brian bulkowski Subject: How Are Telephone Calling Cards Verified? Hi oh those in Telecom land - I've been wondering about two things, and a recent short thread has touched my memory. First question is, how do they verify phone calling card numbers? My calling card is a Pac Bell card, and it works absolutly everywhere within the US I've ever tried to use it, including out of area Bells (like NyNex). Since NyNex doesn't touch PacBell, they would have to traverse a long distance carrier's line, which seems odd. Or there's a central clearing house somewhere. Or there's a simple algorythmic check on the number. Maybe with the added backup that known bad numbers are stored and denied service. It would seem reasonable that routing information be stored in the calling card number, like first three digits are 510, so talk to PacBell, but what to do about people like ATT who are issuing calling cards but don't have local phone numbers? If there's a central clearing house, how big is it? A >100M record database, dutifially fault tolerant, able to answer all those queries in two seconds each, must be something to see. In any of these systems, how do smaller providers like the Orange Card get the same universality in coverage, or maybe they don't? This, perhaps, answers the question of the person recently who asked about how to avoid paying collect charges: use thy calling card. Second question is this: What's the telecom situation in Alaska like? I remember there was a discussion a while ago about Hawaii. But then I was up in Alaska a few months ago, and pay phones weren't too good on the 10xxx numbers. AT+T seemed to give me something called Alascom. Does MCI really not serve Alaska, or just not the pay phones? Is there a different set of regulations for the Upper State that allows the payphone people to not route 10xxx numbers? This was true both in a city and the sticks. I was in a small village a bit north of the circle, Anaktuvuk Pass, and found a pay phone. Easy to find: right next to the big satellite dishes. No roads lead to Anaktuvuk Pass. A very interesting place. The pay phone worked great, took my calling card and everything. Here's another tidbit: when I call 10xxx - 0 - 510 xxx xxxx from my 415 work number, in order to get lower rates (intra LATA calls that Pac Bell makes a fortune on), Pac Bell's error message is: "We're sorry. It is not necessary to dial a long distance company access code for the number you have dialed. Please hang up and try your call again." :-) Regards, brianb brianb@starlight.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 15:07:40 CST From: berg@disney.donnelley.com (Erik Berg) Subject: Privacy and Caller ID/Auto Callback? Well in a nutshell is there anyway to really block your phone number from the person you are calling? Here in IL, Ameritech does have Caller ID and Auto Callback. You can maybe block your phone number by using *67, but Ameritech does not guarantee that this will work with non Ameritech equipment. Problem is, my wife works with DCFS, a government agency that looks after the welfare of the state's kids, sometimes taking them away from their natural parents. She called a client and used the *67, blocking out our phone number from the person she was calling. Problem is the client has Auto Callback as well as Caller ID. Even though when my wife called her, the person was not home, her caller ID box said the time of the call and it was a private number. Well this person saw the private number, freaked and called our house for the last 24 hours with Auto Callback. We were out during this time, but our machine is filled to the rim with these frantic messages, and other wierd things from the person. I eventually had to go to work and call her from a fax machine to erase our number. On top of that at the end of the month, this person will have our phone number from the Ameritech bill, if they ask for an itemized bill of their calls (which the person threaten to do). We tried everything we could with Ameritech. Their solution, use another phone and change your phone number. This does not seem a fair solution, and an invasion of some basic privacy. In six months, Ameritech will have caller ID and User ID so your name and number appear when you call someone. Are there any devices out there that can scramble your phone number from Caller ID and Auto Callback? erik berg (hoping the crazy people stop calling us after one call to them) berg@disney.donnelley.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Caller-ID and Auto Callback information are both passed to the called-party's central office and there is no real way to avoid having that information available if making a direct call to someone. You can do *67 to ask the CO not to give out your number but you can't defeat the call-return part of the process. There is a ser- vice which operates on a 900 number at a premium fee which allows you to call through it and out to wherever causing the called party to get no usable ID/return call information. Even that guy won't cover for you in the event of legal action against you, but for all intents and purposes, it provides an effective shield. I think the number is 1-900-BLOCKER. PAT] (?). PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 16:35:14 -0500 From: co057@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven H. Lichter) Subject: GTE Files Request re Cerritos Cable Television Reply-To: co057@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven H. Lichter) GTE files request to continue its Cerritos cable-television operations IRVING, TEXAS (DEC. 20) BUSINESS WIRE - GTE filed a stay request on Friday, Dec. 17, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco requesting the company be allowed to continue its cable-television operations in Cerritos, Calif. The action follows a recent (Dec. 6) Federal Communication Commission (FCC) denial of a similar stay request. If granted, the stay would allow GTE to continue operating its cable-television facility in Cerritos, Calif., until the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rules on an earlier GTE petition challenging the constitutional right of the government to prevent GTE from offering video programming to its in-franchise customers. Although the FCC denied GTE's stay request, it did extend from Dec. 9, 1993 to Jan. 10, 1994, the required date for GTE to file how it intends to comply with the FCC rescission order. "It doesn't make sense for the FCC to stop our Cerritos project now, if the court could eventually grant us approval to continue our operations there," said Geoff Gould, vice president-regulatory and governmental affairs for GTE Telephone Operations. "All we are asking for is enough time for the court to make its decision on GTE's right to offer video programming to our in-franchise customers." "In Cerritos," said Bob Calafell, vice president-video services, "GTE has gleaned tremendous knowledge about interactive-video services, and we are seeking the opportunity to bring the full benefits of what we have learned to consumers. In fact, the Cerritos project has already spawned one commercial product -- GTE Main Street -- which transforms the customer's television set into a dazzling new tool for education, information gathering, travel, shopping and entertainment." GTE's request to the FCC on Nov. 26 asked for a permanent stay on the Cerritos rescission order, or at least a delay of 30 days after the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals' ruling. The stay, in addition to preserving GTE's current working relationships in Cerritos, also would keep the FCC from forcing GTE to use government compliance rules that are being currently challenged in the courts. In turning down the stay request, the FCC stated, "The commission found, in particular, that GTE had failed to demonstrate it would suffer irreparable harm if a stay is not granted. GTE is the largest U.S.-based local telephone company and the second-largest cellular-service provider in the United States. With $20 billion in revenues in 1992, the corporation is the fourth-largest publicly owned telecommunications company in the world. GTE also is a leader in government and defense communications systems and equipment, satellite and aircraft-passenger telecommunications, directories and telecommunications- based information services and systems. CONTACT: GTE Telephone Operations, Irving Dick Jones, 214/718-6924, or 214/931-5447, after 6 p.m. ------------------------------ Date: 20 Dec 93 16:23:32 EST From: Alfredo E. Cotroneo <100020.1013@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Frequency Database VIRUS *** VIRUS ALERT *** [Feel free to repost as necessary] We have just received a warning by fax from Bob Zanotti of Swiss Radio International that the computer diskette containing the latest ILG (International Listening Guide) database produced by Bernd Friedewald in Germany contained a ParB virus. Bernd Friedewald has been alerted of the problem, and considering Bernd's good reputation there is no evidence of the fact that the diskette might have been intentionally contaminated. Given the extremely fast service of the Swiss Postal Administration, there are reasons to believe that Bob Zanotti could have been one of the first to receive the diskette, and first to discover the problem. Hope this message get to you on time to take all necessary measures. You have been warned! (e.g. DO NOT attempt to either read, or write on the diskette, unless you are sure that you got a good copy, or you know how to deal with computer viruses. Contact your nearest computer expert or system administrator for advice or Bernd Friedewald to know if yours is a good copy. In any case it is always a good practice to check every "unknown" diskette with a most recent anti-virus program before using it) Thanks to Bob Zanotti for the alert! Alfredo E. Cotroneo, President NEXUS-IBA is a NEXUS-Int'l Broadcasting Association non profit org. PO Box 10980, I-20110 Milano, Italy which operates Phone: +39-337-297788 / +39-2-2666971 IRRS-Shortwave & email: 100020.1013@compuserve.com ____ IRRS-GRM on FM ------------------------------ From: markvoor@mindvox.phantom.com (Mark Voorhees) Subject: New Patent Information Wanted Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 12:46:33 EST Organization: [MindVox] / Phantom Access Technologies / (+1 800-MindVox) Does anyone know anything about the following patents, which were all just issued? 5228055 Spread spectrum communications device 5228053 Spread spectrum overlay communications system 5228029 Cellular TDMA communictions system offset frame synchronization Appreciate any help. markvoor@phantom.com Mark Voorhees ------------------------------ From: rayw@research.otc.com.au (Ray Wong) Subject: T1 MUX Recommendations Wanted Date: 21 Dec 1993 06:26:57 GMT Organization: Telstra Corporation Limited I have a requirement to connect a 64 Kbps digital link via a leased line from New York to Sydney (Australia). I'm told that the 64 Kbps link between our equipment(in NY) and the carrier (in NY) has to be carried on a T-1 service. That means some kind of MUX will be required. Could someone please recommend a suitable MUX equipment or a better solution? Our equipment has a X.21 interface. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 16:21:47 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: WDC on Orange Card Bill I have previously seen WDC on my Orange Card bills for calls made from Washington DC and the Maryland suburbs. But it appeared for calls made from northeastern Md. (where I'd expect BAL to appear) on Nov. 29-30. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 22:35:58 +0100 From: lars@eskimo.CPH.CMC.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: Re: Cable Channels (and Satellites) Padgett Peterson (padgett@tccslr.dnet.mcc.com) writes: "The hard part is in knowing which channel to turn on when." Here in Europe we have a system called "text-TV": 500 alphanumeric pages of information hidden where the US system has the "closed captioning" stuff. This includes program schedules for the channel. Several VCRs can capture the schedule data and use this as a menu system for requesting what programs to tape. This is one feature that the US would do well to import from Europe. Another innovation that I have seen here: The largest satellite operator (German ASTRA which has a near monopoly on service to Germany, Scandinavia and I think Be-ne-lux as well) has two birds in the same nominal slot (and a third one planned) so that you can get 24 channels without re-aiming the dish. This has allowed the sale of very inexpensive receiver systems (I have seen a low end system with 18" dish on sale for USD 155 including 25% VAT!! A normal price is about twice that for a system with built-in descrambler with 2 "smart card" slots). This kind of pricing for "wireless cable" led to sharp reductions on cable service prices. 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 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 19:26:32 EST From: WJCS75A@prodigy.com (PAUL N HRISKO) Subject: Cellphones With RJ-11 Connectors Hi, I'm looking for information on cellular phone the either have, or can be adapted (with a dongle, whatever), to provide, an RJ-11 phone jack. The whole idea is fairly simple -- I want to be able to use my laptop to send mail, faxes, etc ... while mobile. I'd also appreciate information on the best modems to use for this type of application. PCMCIA-type modems being preferred. Please reply by e-mail either to this address: wjcs75a@prodigy.com or preferably to: phrisko@world.std.com However, if you feel that it won't take up too much bandwidth and may be useful to others, feel free to reply to the Digest. Thanks, Paul ------------------------------ From: KMCLEOD@delphi.com Subject: Re: TDD Software Wanted Date: Mon, 20 DEC 93 23:37:36 EST Organization: Delphi Internet Mike, the phone company is right -- you can't get ASCII to Baudot (code used by TYs) communication by software alone. You're going to need a hybrid ASCII/Baudot modem. There are several on the market, including the MIC300i, and they have a version for the Mac too. Ultratec in Wisconsin produces the Intelemodem, and Phone-TTY in Hackensack, NJ has a model called the CM-4. Pricing for these products runs about $350. As for software, there's Futura for PC compatibles from Phone TTY, and the MIC 300i comes with FullTalk. I don't think anything is available specifically for working with UNIX, tho. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 12:45:59 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: International Calls via Cable or Satellite This refers to calls originating in the UK: > To get a guaranteed non-satellite circuit to the USA, useful for > certain data transmission requirements which involve a lot of > handshaking, dial 0101 83 + area code + number. > The code 84 allows you to obtain a satellite link, if you really want > one for any reason. 010 is international access code in the UK, and 1 is the country code which includes the U.S. Now you're telling me that EXTRA digits are inserted for non-satellite/satellite links? The equipment at the UK end can handle these extra digits and would not be confused by the coming of the NNX area codes? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Dec 93 03:43 EST From: Dan L. Dale <0005517538@mcimail.com> Subject: Technical Analysis: Santa Claus, Science and Myth SANTA CLAUS: Science and Myth As a result of an overwhelming lack of requests, and with research help from that renown scientific journal SPY magazine (January, 1990) -- I am pleased to present my scientific inquiry into Santa Claus and his merriments. 1) No known species of reindeer can fly. BUT there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and microbes, this does not COMPLETELY rule out the flying reindeer which only Santa has ever seen. 2) There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378 million according to UN'S Population Reference Bureau. At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each. 3) Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with well-behaved children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever LEFT-OVER snacks, scurry back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and speed on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for our calculations purpose - we will suspend our beliefs), we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc. This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man- made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second - a conventional reindeer can run, tops - 15 mph. 4) The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized "Lego" set (2lbs), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight. On land, a typical reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that "flying reindeer" (see point #1) could pull TEN TIMES the normal amount, we cannot do the job with eight, or even nine. We need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. Again, for comparison - this is four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth II. 5) 353,000 tons travelling at 650 miles per second creates enormous drag - air resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as a spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy per second each. In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them, and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force. Observation: In order for Santa to deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he and Rudolph's mates will indeed be DIVINE. Merry Christmas with all the Blessings, Wishing You and All at Home Joy, Happiness, Peace, Prosperity and Success for the New Year. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My sentiments exactly! PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #832 ****************************** Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253