TELECOM Digest Wed, 5 Jan 94 02:18:00 CST Volume 14 : Issue 7 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Post Cool Phone Numbers - Strange Recorded Info Services (Feedlebom) Re: Post Cool Phone Numbers - Strange Recorded Info Services (C. Bongaarts) Re: Post Cool Phone Numbers - Strange Recorded Info Services (J. Carlson) Re: Post Cool Phone Numbers - Strange Recorded Info Services (Carl Moore) Re: Information Wanted on Simon Cellular Phones (Thomas M. Godbold) Re: Information Wanted on Simon Cellular Phones (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Information Wanted on Simon Cellular Phones (Steve Wood) Re: Notice to AT&T Long Distance Customers (John R. Levine) Re: Notice to AT&T Long Distance Customers (Lars Poulsen) Re: 500 Channel Cable Television (Fulcrum) Re: 500 Channel Cable Television (Michael Jacobs) Re: Radio Religion (was 500 Channels...) (Gene Fornario) Re: Super Long Range Cordless Phones (Ken Hoehn) Re: Super Long Range Cordless Phones (Neil L. Kleeman) Re: ITU Method For Writing Telephone Numbers (Toby Nixon) Re: ITU Method For Writing Telephone Numbers (George Zmijewski) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers. To reach us: Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: ptownson@townson.com. ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: feedle@kaiwan.com (Feedlebom) Subject: Re: Post Cool Phone Numbers - Strange Recorded Info Services Organization: KAIWAN Internet Access (310-527-4279,714-539-0829) Date: Tue, 4 Jan 1994 23:10:15 GMT Earl Vickers (earl@netcom.com) wrote: > I'm putting together a list of phone numbers for bizarre recorded > information services. I used to have lots of numbers like this, but > they all seem to have disappeared. For example, there used to be one > where you could leave whatever strange sound effects or messages you > wanted, and they would periodically edit and splice them into their > new outgoing greeting. And there used to be a number in San Francisco > called the Earthquake Prevention Hotline, with a different oddball > comedy bit every couple days. Here in the Los Angeles area, there used to be a handful of such "comment" lines, but unfortunately, they've all dissappeared. A few of the operators of them are running 976/900 services, but most just got disinterested and took 'em down. I was involved with the world-infamous NEEON-19 line in Orange County, and I can tell you that running such a line takes money, patience, and time, something most people don't have anymore. It would take anywhere from three to seven hours to edit the tape down, and countless more assembling other bits for the program. It's a bit like running a radio show: for every hour of content, there's five hours of work. And then there's the equipment ... > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A couple of numbers I'll add to this > list are 312-731-1100 and 312-731-1505. Both are operated by a fellow > named Sherman Skolnick in Chicago who is a 'conspiracy buff'; you know, > one of those people who believe that everyone but Oswald killed JFK. > Both are five minute recordings, and he changes the two messages two > or three times per week. PAT] Then there are the countless White Aryan Resistance and KKK lines around the country ... if you have a pager, you've no doubt been paged by one of them. (None come to mind right now ...) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We had one from the American Nazi Party here for quite awhile which was always good for a laugh, but I have not heard it lately, and don't remember the number so I cannot say for sure if it is stilll operating or not. Regards the amount of preparation involved, you are quite correct that it takes much, much longer than the presentation itself if you want it to be halfway decent. When I had my phone news and information service back in the 1970's, these nincompoops would ask me how could it possibly be a job which takes several hours per day ... I had to investigate what I wanted to talk about; write it down and edit it a few times; practice speaking it; then finally record it. All that for a three minute recording. Of course I had bookkeeping and maintainence to do on 35 phone lines; advertisers to contact regards payment, etc. I am reminded of the nincompoops of today -- the denizens of Usenet who hang around news.groups (a really nasty place as newsgroups go) who ask such questions as if 'all I do' is sort through some messages and put out a couple dozen or so each day, how could it 'possibly' take more than a couple minutes maximum ... I don't know if I should laugh or cry when I read some of that stuff. As you well know from your own experience, quality work takes time. PAT] ------------------------------ From: bong0004@gold.tc.umn.edu (Chris Bongaarts) Subject: Re: Post Cool Phone Numbers - Strange Recorded Info Services Organization: University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Date: Wed, 5 Jan 1994 05:33:41 GMT earl@netcom.com (Earl Vickers) writes: > I'm putting together a list of phone numbers for bizarre recorded > information services. I used to have lots of numbers like this, but [...] > All I have to offer so far is They Might Be Giants's Dial-a-Song > number, (718) 963-6962. As those of you who may have tried calling this know, this number is the incorrect one printed in the liner notes the TMBG's "Apollo 18" CD. The correct number (from "Flood", "Lincoln", and their self-titled "19-track debut album") is: 718-387-6962 From all of us at alt.music.tmbg, thanks... =========================================== bong0004@gold.tc.umn.edu Chris Bongaarts (Sir Taxi of the Wild Crew) cbongaar@sunrayce.solar.umn.edu Call the Game Center BBS! (612)942-7531 cbongaar@reality.cs.umn.edu My opinions are my own, and they are right. cbongaar@mermaid.micro.umn.edu ------------------------------ From: carlson@xylogics.com (James Carlson) Subject: Re: Post Cool Phone Numbers - Strange Recorded Info Services Date: 4 Jan 1994 15:21:34 GMT Organization: Xylogics Incorporated Reply-To: carlson@xylogics.com In article , earl@netcom.com (Earl Vickers) writes: [...] >> All I have to offer so far is They Might Be Giants's Dial-a-Song >> number, (718) 963-6962. Hmpf. Not so cool. It's been disconnected! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As the message before this suggests, try 718-387-6962. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jan 94 17:21:42 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Post Cool Phone Numbers - Strange Recorded Info Services 718-963-6962 is disconnected (I just tried it). But I did reach 410-337-FUNN (3866), the "Joke Du Jour" hotline of "Rouse and company" on WQSR-FM 105.7 in Baltimore, Maryland. ------------------------------ From: mctmg@perot.mtsu.edu (Thomas M. Godbold) Subject: Re: Information Wanted on Simon Cellular Phones Date: 05 Jan 1994 03:27:03 GMT Organization: Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee In tony@cmhcsys.cmhcsys.com (Tony Barnecut) writes: > I am looking for information on a cellular phone called SIMON. I saw a > picture of it in a recent issue of {InfoWorld} but it did not say who > the manufacturer is or where it could be purchased. From the short ... SIMON is a cellphone/pager/calendar/personal data device/fax/etc. all wrapped into one compact and versatile package. Having never seen the actual unit, I cannot vouch for its functionality. However, it is marketed (will be, anyway, as of 3/94) by BELLSOUTH CELLULAR CORPORATION (my company, BTW) and I would be happy to do a brief synopsis of the product here from the extensive (albeit a bit wordy) pre-release literature we received, as well as the test period we will have soon ... with the MODERATOR's permission. Please address inquiries/etc to : mctmg@knuth.mtsu.edu My opinions are strictly my own and are not those of BellSouth Mobility, BellSouth Cellular Corporation, BellSouth Corporation, or any of its subsidiaries or entities. Don't you just *hate* these disclaimers? Tom Godbold mctmg@knuth.mtsu.edu ------------------------------ From: mds@access.digex.net (Michael D. Sullivan) Subject: Re: Information Wanted on Simon Cellular Phones Date: 05 Jan 1994 01:34:22 -0500 Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA tony@cmhcsys.cmhcsys.com (Tony Barnecut) writes: > I am looking for information on a cellular phone called SIMON. I saw a > picture of it in a recent issue of {InfoWorld} but it did not say who > the manufacturer is or where it could be purchased. From the short > description that was included I found that it has an LCD panel where > the keypad would be with interchangable cards that make it act as a > phone, pager and other things. With different cards, different icons > appear on the LCD panel for the functions for that particular card. > Any information anyone could give me on this this product would be > greatly appreciated. The SIMON is made by IBM exclusively for BellSouth. It is not just a cellular phone but a "personal digital assistant" with a pen operating system of some sort. Michael D. Sullivan mds@access.digex.net avogadro@well.sf.ca.us Washington, D.C. 74160.1134@compuserve.com mikesullivan@bix.com ------------------------------ From: Steve Wood Subject: Re: Information Wanted on Simon Cellular Phones Date: Tue, 04 Jan 94 10:39:00 PST In response to Tony Barnecut's inquiry about Simon on 12/29: It is manufactured by IBM and marketed (I think exclusively at least for now) by Bell South. Steve Wood steve.wood@mccaw.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 04 Jan 94 13:03 EST From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: Notice to AT&T Long Distance Customers Organization: I.E.C.C., Cambridge, Mass. According to a wire service account in the {Boston Globe}, AT&T is changing their rates to be more like MCI and Sprint. The list price for calls goes up, but with a calling plan, you pay about what you would have before. AT&T characterized the changes as revenue neutral. The i plan is going away, presumably because nobody could figure out what it was. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, jlevine@delphi.com, 1037498@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: lars@Eskimo.CPH.CMC.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: Re: Notice to AT&T Long Distance Customers Organization: CMC Network Products, Copenhagen DENMARK Date: Tue, 04 Jan 94 22:01:12 GMT In article , Paul Robinson writes: > {Washington Post} 12/29 Pg B3: > NOTICE TO AT&T LONG DISTANCE CUSTOMERS > Card Station $2.05 $2.12 > Operator Station: > -Collect $2.05 $2.12 > -Billed to Third Party $2.11 $2.18 > -Sent Paid--Non-Coin $2.05 $2.12 I wonder why they bother to have a special rate for third-party. The increment seems hardly worth the bother of explaining that it's different. > Effective February 10, 1994, AT&T USADirect* (R) Optional Calling Plan > - Option A, institutes a 30-call restriction on the number of Plan > calls eligible for discounted rates in a one month period. I have never heard about optional calling plans for USA Direct. I have a Universal card, and occasionally use it for USA Direct. Do you have any information about this plan? 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: fulcrum@NeoSoft.com (Fulcrum) Subject: Re: 500 Channel Cable Television Organization: NeoSoft Internet Services -- +1 713 684 5969 Date: Tue, 04 Jan 1994 16:33:56 GMT In article thale@Novell.COM (Todd D. Hale) writes: > wait, myself. Imagine sitting down to local news and hitting some > NEXT story button when you're ready to move on. Or, select a set of > stories from a table of contents and play it through. Etc, etc ... Hmmm ... I think many of us already do this to an extent through various news sources we get through on-line services or Internet. The technology is incorporate the other aspects that television has (ie video, sound, etc) is actually coming about as we speak. Personally, I've never liked what comes out of my TV News anyway. They are slow, alarmist, and they always show the need to cut down everything to 40 second blurbs. Right now, harder news is found in the better newspapers (the ones that do more analytical news than fact reporting) or shortwave radio where you can usually get the word out from the mouths of the particular country. If the future is more 40 second blurbs, then there's really no point for much news from these TV-Packages. Mike Fulcrum - That Sassy Sassy Style... The Internet Experience: Fulcrum@Neosoft.Com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 04 Jan 94 22:38:12 EDT From: Michael Jacobs Subject: Re: 500 Channel Cable Television I think a lot of the problem that some people seem to have with understanding the telephone/cable convergence is a tendency toward linear thinking, ie-15 channels yesterday, 50 channels today, 500 channels tomorrow. Rather, we are going to see revolutionary (exponential) changes as the convergence of cable tv and telephony progresses. The concept that many RBOC's are working towards is video dialtone. This entails an available, dedicated high-bandwidth connection between a subscriber and a software (programming) source on-demand. Each subscriber will be able to access common (ie-network) programming or custom (on-demand) programming in real-time. The keys to this are: 1) high-bandwidth subscriber loops; 2) ATM broadband switching; and 3)mass-storage programming systems (called video servers). There will be no choice to make as to which of 500 different channels to watch, rather it will be a choice as to what to program on the one available video dialtone line, much as one chooses who to call on the current voice telephone line. ALL SOFTWARE WITH NETWORK ACCESS will be available to the subscriber on demand! The revolutionary concept here is that instead of some programmer in NY or LA deciding what I should watch, it will be me choosing what to watch , whether it is a movie from Paramount's library, episode #121 of Donna Reed, Howard Stern's latest special, or the current ABC network program. The telephone company will merely provide the bandwidth from software provider to the residence, other vendors (and RBOC subsidiaries) will compete for viewership. The value of the service will lie in the diversity of programming available to the customer, much as the value of the current telephone network lies not in the fact that there is a phone in your home, but that there is a phone in every home! If the cable companies think that they can compete with a fixed 500 channel system against on-demand video dialtone, they are doomed to go the way of the dominant telecommunications company in the US of 100 years ago, Western Union, namely technological and competitive obsolescence. Personal Opinions Only Michael Jacobs, JMT0@lafibm.lafayette.edu Service Technician, Bell Atlantic-Pennsylvania ------------------------------ From: genef@netcom.com (Gene Fornario) Subject: Re: Radio Religion (was 500 Channels...) Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Wed, 5 Jan 1994 05:51:20 GMT > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well by the middle 1960's all-religious > stations were starting to be heard in a few places. WYCA-FM in > Hammond, Indiana came on the air I guess about 1963; WMBI in Chicago > started their FM affiliate station sometime in the early to middle BTW, have you noticed that Canada doesn't not either have or license all-religous stations? I have asked why in rec.radio.broadcasting, and most think it was because there was a lot of fighting going on between such stations in the early days of radio ... can you add to that? Gene genef@netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I really don't know anything at all about the rules in Canada or how they can be be created; I'll take a pass on this rather than second-guess my friend Bill Pfieffer with his newsgroup and journal. I don't think there has ever been any rules oer laws against it here in the USA simply because the government here really cannot regulate speech, and technical requirements have to be applied equally to all license holders regardless of the content of their speech. Other ideas or suggestions, anyone? PAT] ------------------------------ From: kenh@w8hd.org (Ken Hoehn) Subject: Re: Super Long Range Cordless Phones Date: 04 Jan 1994 17:01:48 -0500 Organization: The w8hd Group octela!!mikedi@uunet.UU.NET (Michael Dimitrov) writes: > A few months ago I saw an ad for a long range radio telephone -- it > works like cordless, but it's range is about 100 miles (right, one > hundred miles). Of course, it said "Not for sale in the US". A > friend of mine from Eastern Europe would like to buy one of these, but > I've lost the ad since then. Could anyone provide information about > similar telephone systems -- manufacturers, reteilers, technical > details etc. There are no such systems legal for operation in the United States. They are merely interconnected business radio systems, utilizing low band (30-50 mHz) radio facilities, and interconnect units to connect the phone line to the unit. You would get away with using for a few days, maybe a couple of weeks. The co-channel users would complain up a storm, and the Commission would get you. They are intended only for surreptitious use in 'uncontrolled' (read: out of control) countries. Sorry. 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: ssinlk@solsys.com (Neil L. Kleeman) Subject: Re: Super Long Range Cordless Phones Organization: Solution Systems Inc. Date: Tue, 04 Jan 1994 10:03:38 GMT In Article , Mark W. Earle <0006127039@ mcimail.com> wrote: > Michael Dimitrov wrote: >> A few months ago I saw an ad for a long range radio telephone -- it >> works like cordless, but it's range is about 100 miles .... > These usually turn out to be nothing more than 1/2 duplex, two way > radios (hand held or mobiles) with a telephone interconnect similiar > to an amateur radio "autopatch". The reason they are not for sale in > the US is that, to use such a device requires a business or other > license; the gear must be FCC type accepted. Thanks for all of that information. Can you give me any idea what manufacturers might have this type of equipment available? Please respond via email. Thanks, Neil L. Kleeman, President Internet: ssinlk@solsys.com Solution Systems Incorporated Voice: (215) 668-4620 114 Forrest Avenue Fax: (215) 668-2157 Narberth, PA 19072 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As pointed out before, no one has this type of equipment for sale if they know you intend to use it in the USA. Something interesting I found out the other day about Radio Shack is their corporate policy which states that if you discuss with their clerk your intent to modify radio equipment you purchase from them so it will operate in an illegal way, the clerk is supposed to refuse to sell you the equipment. PAT] ------------------------------ From: tnixon@microsoft.com (Toby Nixon) Subject: Re: ITU Method For Writing Telephone Numbers Organization: Microsoft Corporation, Redmond WA, USA Date: Tue, 4 Jan 1994 23:10:19 GMT In article Anthony wrote: > What is the ITU reference for the standard method of writing > telephone numbers? I've noticed the following: > (plus symbol) (country code) (city/area code) (number) This is described in Recommendation E.123. You have it basically right. A "+" and the country code, a space, the city code (optionally enclosed within parenthesis to indicate that it is optionally dialed if you're within the same city code), then another space, and the local number. It is preferred that if the local number is to be broken up into segments (e.g., 555 1212) that a space character be used, but other characters are permitted by local convention (e.g., period, hyphen). E.123 (the title is something like "Representation of Telephone Numbers in Printed Materials"; sorry, I don't have a copy handy) includes guidance on how to differentiate different types of lines, such as voice and fax, and how to indicate that an answering machine may be in use, etc. Toby ------------------------------ From: mzmijews@mgzcs.demon.co.uk (George Zmijewski) Subject: Re: ITU Method For Writing Telephone Numbers Organization: MGZ Computer Services Reply-To: mzmijews@mgzcs.demon.co.uk Date: Tue, 04 Jan 1994 22:24:16 GMT In article 0003250251@mcimail.com writes: > What is the ITU reference for the standard method of writing I don't know what the ITU decided but in UK we are told to use: MYCOMPANY NAME (0123) 123456 international +44 123 123456 This seems a bit stupid -- the American system (if there is any), seems to be much better -- just the area code plus number. Everybody knows when to add 1 or when to add 001 (if calling from another country). In Europe 0 is being now used as prefix for area code numbers and 00 as prefix for country codes. With such a system in operation is it sensible to include the first 0 in your number? Or should we all use numbers with country code. Anybody inside the country will know what digits to drop? But then some French idiots come up with a stupid numbering system (for Paris *and* Greater Paris +331 xxxxxxxx rest of the country +33 xxxxxxxx ). Is it a revenge for changing CCITT to ITU? George Zmijewski ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #7 **************************** ****************************************************************************** Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253