TELECOM Digest Sat, 29 Jan 94 22:03:00 CST Volume 14 : Issue 50 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Cellular Reseller to Purchase Another (Washington Post via Paul Robinson) 'Arbitrage' PUC Rule? (Dave Hughes) Telecom Policy in South Africa (Jan Bourgeois) Dial-Back Black Boxes (Joel Disini) TDRs and Wiretaps (Joel Disini) Anyone Used an Intelejak? (Stephen T. Pierce) Cellular Phone (Analog) With Modem FAQ? (Theo Gantos) Area Code 215 to 610 ... Not (Michael Jacobs) Questions About Tele-Shopping (Elke Ghyssels) Questions About ISDN (Tom Vermijlen) Caller ID Answering Machines (Chris Garrigues) Telephone Express (Paul Celestin) Telephony Textbook/Whitepaper Request (Pamela JS. Thomas) Snail Mail Newsgroup (Nigel Roberts) Internet Connections: What's Involved? (J. Guitard) Need Panasonic Bag Phone Battery (Jim Miller) GTE is Annoyed With Me (TELECOM Digest Editor) Re: Informing Ourselves to Death (George Gilder) 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. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 19:39:37 EST From: Paul Robinson Reply-To: Paul Robinson Subject: Cellular Reseller to Purchase Another Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA Summary from "N.Y. Firm Makes Bid For Unicel" by John Burgess {Washington Post}, Jan 27, Page D11 Nationwide Cellular Service, Inc. of Valley Stream, NY, a cellular reseller with about $115 million in 1991 sales and 175,000 customers in several cities plus the Washington DC area, on Jan 26 tentatively agreed to buy Columbia MD-based Unicell America, Inc., a competing reseller with about 12,000 customers in the DC/MD Eastern Shore/Delaware corridor, for $4.6 million. A cellular reseller is someone who buys blocks of numbers from a cellular carrier at wholesale discount then resells them at retail markup. In 1991 Nationwide bought GTE's Washington reseller. As such, only one other reseller -- for Motorola purchasers -- would exist in the area. This worries Chicago-Based Consulting firm Prarie Street Partners, which has objected to the merger, claiming it could violate Maryland's antitrust laws. MD Assistant Attorney General Alan Barr says he is interested but can't promise that the deal is being examined. Unicell is a division of Walker Telecommunications Corp., which is currently undergoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The court would have to approve the sale. Neither the trustee for Walker nor a spokesman for Nationwide had any comment. Paul Robinson - Paul@TDR.COM ------------------------------ From: daveh@teal.csn.org (Dave Hughes) Subject: 'Arbitrage' PUC Rule? Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc. Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 20:35:40 GMT I learned last week of an obscure rule which somebody -- allegedly the Colorado PUC Staff -- is putting in a set of rules tightening up the expansion of rural local calling areas. I had never heard of the term arbitrage with respect to phone connections before, and I am a novice on PUC rule making, but if this rule does what I think it will, I will be before the PUC with bells on complaining as loudly as I can, on behalf of ordinary rural folk trying to use grass roots, low cost, data telecom. Let me explain an example I used, which a PUC-rule-knowledgable person said would be prohibited under the rule. I have been asked to set up a powerful small computer bulletin board in a rural town -- powerful enough to have one or more lines coming in via US West, and one with TCP/IP and SLIP going out another via a local phone company whose local calling area reaches a city where there is an Internet server. Those users who live in a three county area served with a local call to the BBS via US West can, on occassion (not always, for the BBS will serve locally), telnet out via SLIP to the Internet, and e-mail and news can flow into the BBS. My friend says that is a form of 'abitrage' and will be prohibited under the new rule. There is no alternative, especially in a sparse area, to the 24 hour SLIP connection over a local circuit, $50 a month, to the Internet service, which will charge $250 a month, or $300 total, except to order a bigger bucks ($350 dedicated 56kb line + $800 internet or $1,150 a month) connection -- four times as much. And for an area where it would be a year or more before the traffic would max out even a 14.4 SLIP modem link, yhere is a real diference in a little rural area between $3,600 and $15,000 a year. So what is artbitrage, really? And how can I fight a rule whcih only will have the effect of having *no* service set up, if it can't be entered at the low cost level? Dave Hughes [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The dictionary defines arbitrage as the simultaneous purchase and resale of some commodity or service in order to benefit from the difference in price between the buying and selling market. I don't think that really applies in the scenario as you have described it. You are not purchasing and reselling the same service. You are purchasing telephone service in order to sell (not re-sell) Internet connectivity. Yes, you are reselling Internet conn- ectivity from whoemever your vendor is for the same, but you are not purchasing the Internet connectivity from the same vendor as you are purchasing the telephone service, and even if you were you are not purchasing and re-selling 'the same commodity or security'. The tele- phone is a necessary part of your business, but what is really happening is you are using the telephone to receive calls from people who you in turn connect with various information databases which you are authorized to distribute by virtue of your contract with your vendor for Internet stuff. Another important point is that your callers will be getting connected with *you on your computer* then (as you worded it) using telnet -- not a telephone company in the world offers it -- to connect with other places. Since no telco offers telnet -- either the hardware to do it or the software -- you are not reselling what the telco is selling you. Telco is selling you carriage, or a transport mechanism; you are using the carriage or transport mechanism to distribute information to your customers. To put it another way, if arbitrage could be defined as loosely as your friend has done it, then every hotel switchboard becomes illegal since the hotel purchases local service from telco at one price and immediatly resells it to guests at some other price. Every privately owned payphone (COCOT) becomes illegal for the same reason. Every pro- vider of information by telephone who accepts telephone calls from customers then uses the telephone to seek the desired information elsewhere becomes illegal. The travel agent who accepts a local telephone call from a client seeking a reservation who accesses the terminal in his office to connect with the mainframe of an airline across the country becomes illegal. Why? Because by the definition of arbitrage your friend is using, the local person avoided a toll call to the airline mainframe across the country by connecting instead on a local call to the agent who in effect purchased a commodity (a phone call to the mainframe somewhere) and immediatly resold the returned results of the carriage to his client. The difference then is telco sells carriage. You sell information. You need carriage to complete the transaction, and telco needs information to be carried in order to complete their transaction. They go together but they are not the same 'security or commodity' regardless of the fact that the actions occur simultaneously. Unfortunatly for the PUC, arbitrage requires the *identical, same* security or commodity. Anyway, *why* is the PUC getting involved in this? You install your computer and you order phone lines for it. If you want FX or some other specialized service you order it and have it installed. Let the telco(s) involved in this tell you they won't do it, and why; make them quote their tariff authority, and if they are unable to do so, then sue them. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hw43158@vub.ac.be (BOURGEOIS JAN) Subject: Telecom Policy in South Africa Date: 29 Jan 1994 18:33:21 GMT Organization: Brussels Free Universities (VUB/ULB), Belgium Hello everybody, I am a student in communication research at the Brussels Free University in Belgium. I am writing a paper about the telecommunication structures in South Africa. As you may know or not know, the situation in South Africa is extremely interesting. The South African telecommunication structures are very modern (number 22 worldwide), but the problem is that it is going to be a democratic country soon. This demands for example that all black people should be able to get a phone, which is now not at all the case. The South African government is not keen on democratising the telecom-structures and therefore it is beyond any doubt that these telecom-structures will be privatised (black people will not be able to pay the amount asked). If anyone can provide me with some information on "Telecommunications in South Africa", or with adresses of newsgroups that are of any relevance in this matter, please e-mail me. Thanks in advance. hw43158@is1.vub.ac.be (BOURGEOIS JAN) Student Communicatiewetenschappen Vrije Universiteit Brussel [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You've got the right newsgroup, and as a matter of fact, we've got a number of readers on the mailing list @telkom.co.za and perhaps one or more will kindly respond to your comments with a copy to the Digest. PAT] ------------------------------ From: D1749@AppleLink.Apple.COM (Disini SW, Emmanuel Disini,CST) Subject: Dial-Back Black Boxes Date: 29 Jan 1994 04:19:49 -0600 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway I am looking for a black box that lets me dial from overseas (Manila) into the US. I'm not sure if calls originating from Manila contain ANI information, but it would be nice if that black box could figure out that I'm calling from Manila, call me back (using some low-cost overseas subscription plan, such as AT&T's Reach out World), and then (using a second telephone line) allow me to dial any number in the US (or the world, for that matter), at US rates. You see, calls from Manila to the US cost $2.25 for the first minute (plus 10% tax), whereas MCI charges 47c/min under the Friends & Family plan. If this works out, I'd be interested in reselling such boxes in Manila. Joel Disini d1749@applelink.apple.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There is a company which makes such boxes, but like Telepassport (the service I represent which sells the same kind of thing) they depend on identifying your call by the phone number which was dialed to reach the box. Also, they use three-way calling rather than a second line to establish the connections. You call it; by virtue of the incoming ringing signal it calls you back; you enter a passcode and the desired number; it then flashes for the three-way line, places the call and flashes again. If I get some money, I am going to get a few boxes and switch all my Telepassport clients over to my own system. In the meantime Joel, don't re-invent the wheel. Use one of the several existing telephone arbitrage (our word for the day!) outfits around. I'd prefer you use mine but that's your choice. PAT] ------------------------------ From: D1749@AppleLink.Apple.COM (Disini SW, Emmanuel Disini,CST) Subject: TDRs and Wiretaps Date: 29 Jan 1994 04:34:37 -0600 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway > There is also a device (TDR, time-domain- reflectometer) that will > bounce a signal down the line and give you a visual indication of > bridge taps or irregularities in impedance along the circuit. You can > usually see any splice or terminal box. Interesting. Will this interfere in anyway with the central office's switch? Will the TDR indicate just how far from my phone (or CO), the wiretap is taking place? How much is a TDR and what models would you recommend? Regards, Joel Disini Manila ------------------------------ From: stp@ccd.harris.com (Stephen T. Pierce) Subject: Anyone Used an Intelejak? Reply-To: steve@rtfm.mlb.fl.us Organization: A crutch for those who can't handle chaos Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 13:57:02 GMT Anyone used an Intelejak from Phonex (or some similar device)? This is supposed to be one of those devices to allow you to create phone extensions anywhere in your home by plugging a base unit into an electrical outlet and then plugging your incoming phone line into it. Then plugging an extension unit into any other electrical outlet will allow you to have a phone extension there. I would like to know if this is feasible for using as a phone outlet for a faxmodem and whether $69.95 (from Lyben) seems to be a reasonable price. Thanks, Steve Pierce steve@rtfm.mlb.fl.us ------------------------------ From: theo@msen.com (Theo Gantos, CSP) Subject: Cellular Phone (Analog) With Modem FAQ? Date: 29 Jan 1994 23:08:43 GMT Organization: T. E. Gantos & Associates I'd like to get a detailed technical engineering understanding of what goes on in an ordinary analog cellular phone call. Is there a FAQ on this? Why do some services only seem to be able to handle data up to 2400bps? Are they using ADPCM or some other compression technology to enlarge the bandwith between the cell and the CO? Theoretically if there's enough bandwith on a cellular call we should be able to use higher rates and TCM. Thanks in advance. Email on this is fine. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Jan 94 12:50:56 EDT From: Michael Jacobs Subject: Area Code 215 to 610 ... Not Mr. Thomas Hinders notes that some persons were having difficulty dialing in to him using the new 610 (Allentown and Southeastern Pennsylvania) area code rather than the former 215 area code. Bell officials (according to a news article in the Allentown Morning Call newspaper) contacted Bellcore (the current NANP administrator) to send an emergency bulletin to all IXC's that such difficulties have been reported. When placing a long-distance call, there are several places where a call can be intercepted and prevented from being completed. One, the caller's CPE (key system unit, private branch exchange, etc.) can be blocking the call to a non-recognized area code (Numbering Plan Area or NPA). Two, the local exchange carrier (RBOC or independent) needs to recognize the call setup and route it appropriately (based on the presence/absence of dialed digit "1" + NPA). Three, the LEC's signalling network provider (not all LEC's operate their own Signal Control Points (the database which instructs the SS7 network and Signal Transfer Point switch)) may not yet havethe new NPA data in their system. Four, the IXC may not have that information in their SCP routing database (I imagine that AT&T does, but there are dozens of smaller carriers that may not yet have gotten the message). Lastly, the LEC in 610 NPA (Bell Atlantic-Pennsylvania and independents ) must take the signalling info from the IXC and route it appropriately. The point here (and my scenario above is merely educated speculation), is that there is a lot of coordination to be made in effecting a NPA change, and that is why they are so well-publicized (including ad- vertisements in nationwide trade and general-circulation periodicals). It should not be suprising that technical glitches will occur. That is why Bell has given a one-year grace period when both area codes will work. This grace period, however, is (according to the article) intended only for end-users and not for IXC's who have had plenty of warning and should have effected the required changes to their systems. Moreover, callers should realize that the telephone system (Bell, GTE, IXC, and independent) is designed, built, and maintained by human beings and will never operate at 100% perfection (due to the conseq- uences of the Law of Diminishing Returns, I should not like to see the size of my phone bill from a company that actually did operate at 100%). Therefore, an educated caller will know how to access other IXC's via the appropriate 10XXX codes, contact an operator for assistance in completing problem calls, or contact repair service to have a line trouble repaired. The telephone companies and their employees work hard to ensure that the calls go through. As an aside, I found it interesting that during the aftermath of the recent ice storm in SE Pennsylvania when Philadelphia Electric had 500,000+ customers out of service, they could confidently publicize an 800 number for their customers to report problems. News accounts I heard mentioned a figure of about one thousand telephone customers out of service in the same geographic area. I personally was one of the many Bell technicians who worked 14+ hour days in the 10 degreeweather to restore service to those customers affected. Michael W. Jacobs (JMT0@lafibm.lafayette.edu) Service Technician, Bell Atlantic-Pennsylvania ------------------------------ From: hw40142@vub.ac.be (ghyssels elke) Subject: Question About Tele-Shopping Date: 29 Jan 1994 10:00:50 GMT Organization: Brussels Free Universities (VUB/ULB), Belgium Hi, I'm looking for information about tele-shopping because I'm preparing a paper on this topic. I hope someone can help me. Thanks in advance. hw40142@is1.vub.ac.be (ghyssels elke) Student Communicatiewetenschappen Vrije Universiteit Brussel ------------------------------ From: hw43213@vub.ac.be (Vermijlen Tom) Subject: Question About ISDN Date: 29 Jan 1994 12:51:29 GMT Organization: Brussels Free Universities (VUB/ULB), Belgium I'm a student in communication at the Free University of Brussels and I'm working on a paper about the electronical highways in the USA. If there is anyone who has relevant introduction-books about isdn in the USA and a bit more specific about these 'electronical highways ', please send it to me. Thanks in advance. hw43213@is1.vub.ac.be (Vermijlen Tom) Student Communicatiewetenschappen Vrije Universiteit Brussel ------------------------------ From: cwg@mcc.com (Chris Garrigues) Subject: Caller ID Answering Machines Organization: MCC Date: Fri, 28 Jan 1994 15:43:46 GMT Does anybody have any recommendations on answering machines that support Caller ID? Caller ID is arriving here in Austin very soon and at the same time I need a new answering machine, so it would make sense to get them integrated. I remember seeing an ad in the {NY Times} a few months ago, but (a) I can't find it now and (b) I want to know more than I saw in that ad. The local Radio Shack and AT&T stores have the Caller ID boxes, and the AT&T store also has a phone with Caller ID, but neither have answering machines with Caller ID. Also, sources to purchase would be handy. Thanks in advance, Chris Garrigues +1 512 338 3328 Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation cwg@mcc.com 3500 West Balcones Center Drive Austin, TX 78759-6509 USA ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Jan 94 10:03:04 -0800 From: celestin@olympus.net (Paul Celestin) Subject: Telephone Express Has anyone heard of an outfit called Telephone Express? I just received a mailing from them claiming that my first long distance call will cost a penny and their charges are a lot less than AT&T or MCI. Anyone can use it by dialing 10465. However, nowhere in the literature do they mention what their prices are. I'm curious if anyone has used them or knows what their rates are. The letter they sent seems to be specifically tailored to the US West calling area in the Pacific Northwest. Thanks in advance for any comments! celestin@olympus.net (Paul Celestin, Celestin Company) ------------------------------ From: thomas@aurxcg.aur.alcatel.com (Pamela JS. Thomas) Subject: Telephony Textbook/Whitepaper Request Date: 29 Jan 1994 15:14:20 GMT Organization: Alcatel Network Systems I'm one of those "crossover" skilled people from the defense industry. I understand the basics of communications systems. I have learned a lot about telecommunications in the last year. I have read a host of magazine articles and chapters of interest in computer network textbooks. Is there a primer for telephony? Every once in a while I'd like to review the basics. There are a lot of letters to remember. (ie. LAN, TL1, SONET, T1/DS1 ...) Pamela Voice: 919-850-6567 Fax:919-850-5588 thomas@aur.alcatel.com / 84 318i, 70 2000A [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Stick around, Pamela. Maybe we will learn something together here. PAT] ------------------------------ From: roberts_n@svhdev.te.bt.co.uk Subject: Snail Mail Newsgroup Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 14:26:50 GMT Some time ago there was an announcement of a mailing list or newsgroup (I can't remember which) which covered the topic of the world's postal services (a.k.a `snail mail'). Of course, as luck would (not) have it, now that I want to find it, I can't remember the details. Nor can I find them. Can anyone offer me a pointer to the group or mailing list, please, if it exists? Thanks in advance. Nigel Eur.-Ing. N. Roberts + Co. P. O. Box 49 MANNINGTREE (Essex) CO11 2SZ Office/Home: +44 206 396610 / +44 860 578600 Fax: +44 206 393148 On site: +44 473 22 4443 Email: roberts_n@svhdev.te.bt.co.uk ------------------------------ From: 92065034@ramsey.cs.laurentian.ca (J. Guitard) Subject: INTERNET Connections: What's Involved? Date: 29 Jan 1994 14:38:00 -0500 Organization: Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, Canada I would like some info on what's involved in connecting to the Internet. At first I thought the only way to connect was through a T1 line, but now I hear you can connect with a 9600 baud line. Someone told me they were connected through their local internet provider. Who are these local internet providers? What are the costs for these lines and monthly fees, etc? Email me or post here. Thanks in advance, James Albert Guitard, Laurentian University 92065034@ramsey.cs.laurentian.ca ------------------------------ From: jmiller@wendy.iac.net (Jim Miller) Subject: Need Panasonic Bag Phone Battery Date: Sat, 29 Jan 94 16:41:32 EST Hi, I am in need of a battery for a Panasonic EB-2501 bag cellular phone. I have checked MCM Electronics, which has a decent selection of replacement batteries, with no success. The battery is part number EB-P0057, 1000 mAH. Are there any good sources (mail-order) for cellular accessories like mobile mounts, through-glass antennas, chargers, and the like, that you would recommend? Your help is very much appreciated! Jim Miller - jmiller@wendy.iac.net ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 11:08:20 From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: GTE is Annoyed With Me Whenever something of consequence happens in the far-away galaxy of California -- not often, admittedly, but the siesmological disturbances there recently which knocked quite a few of the creatures out their orbit is one such instance -- the local lightbulb manufacturer GTE springs into action to mitigate the damage and disruption in service to the primitive communications system they employ there. Proud of their employer, and proud of a job well done under most extraordinary circumstances, a few of the folks there send me news via my fax machine from time to time; they also send email. I like faxes the best under the circumstances since fax machines don't lie and neither do scanners which input the faxed material into the computer. (By the way GTE-droids, its not Steven Lichter, you've managed to get him under control ...). Anyway, my printing of things published as internal communications at the lightbulb factory has gotten *some people* very, very upset and bothered, especially since they can't figure out who is sending me those bulletins. The dude has no answer-back on his fax machine for good reason. :) A fellow from GTE who identified himself as being part of (or responsible for) security for GTE where 'internal documents' were concerned called me on the phone one day and seriously urged me to not print any more of the things that were sent to me 'outside of regular corporate channels'. He said he would ask about adding me to the media mailing list so that I'd receive things from the company on an official basis -- don't tell him I said so, but I think he meant I would be getting the whitewashed versions henceforth and hereafter. Concurrent with asking me in a polite way (I wonder if they will become less polite as time goes on) not to print any more memorandums sent to me by friends of the Digest (and I might add very dedicated, loyal and proud employees of GTE -- yes, there is more than one feeding me), the following statement began appearing on those earthquake reports being distributed: -------------- THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS A COMPANY PROPRIETARY STATUS REPORT ON THE CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE. ANY DISTRIBUTION OF THIS INFORMATION TO A BROAD EMPLOYEE AUDIENCE (VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL OR PRINTED DISTRIBUTION) OR ANY EXTERNAL DISTRIBUTION (WHETHER MEDIA OR ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARD SUCH AS INTERNET OR COMPUSERVE) MUST FIRST BE CLEARED THROUGH APPROPRIATE GTE PUBLIC AFFAIRS CHANNELS. -------------- Yep, the deep-throat even went and sent me stuff with the above message printed at the top of the page. But I'll be Mister Good Guy this time around and *not* print the rest of the memo. Let's see how fast GTE keeps their side of the bargain and adds me to the official list. My fax number is 1-708-329-0572 but email is also okay. By the by, the GTE-droid denied there was fuel all over the floor in the Santa Monica CO after the earthquake. At least he denied it until I read it back to him right from the faxed page where it said there was ... To close this issue of the Digest, George Gilder has written us with a response to Neil Postman's remarks which were printed in these columns a few days ago. I'm always glad when Gilder takes a few minutes out of his schedule to write us; he's one of the best. See the next message ... PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Jan 94 17:14 EST From: George Gilder <0004091174@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Informing Ourselves to Death Postman may well give us something to meditate upon as we travel down the information superhighway, but nearly everything he says in his speech is nonsense. Computers do not support centralization; they destroy all top down, centralized and master-slave structures. They disestablish all the hierarchies, monopolies, pyramids and power grids of established industrial society. They give every hacker at his workstation the creative power previously commanded by factory tycoons and the communications power once monopolized by broadcasters. IBM, USSR, EEC, NTT, all these colossal acronyms are collapsing into an alphabet soup because of the power of distributed computing governed by the law of the microcosm, the inexorable tendency of the chip to distribute power and intelligence as the density of electronic components rises by an order of magnitude every five years on a single sliver of sand manufacturable for a couple dollars. It is the masses who are always favored by technology; the medieval era Postman acclaims offered a life expectancy of around 35 years to all but the luckier kings and lords. Postman's notion that the distribution of information somehow eclipses knowledge is nonsense; knowledge and wisdom are always rare, but new technologies make it far easier to distribute it. The meaning of life is always elusive, but computers do nothing to inhibit religion or faith. They do everything to impel economic expansion and opportunity, which is a good even in an era when the culture is largely corrupt, and nowhere so corrupt as in the universities upholding an umphalosceptic intellectualism, combined with a luddite resentment of the real accomp- lishments of our age, which are not alas cultural but scientific and technological. To see worlds in a grain of sand, the dream of Blake, is the achievement of the modern cathedral -- the silicon chip. George Gilder ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #50 ***************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253