TELECOM Digest     Tue, 3 May 94 23:38:00 CDT    Volume 14 : Issue 198

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Book Review: "Modems for Dummies" by Rathbone (Rob Slade)
    IXC Timing Problem (Linda Slovick)
    Help: Bogen 2-line Friday AND Distinctive Ring Call Router (R. La Ferla)
    CONNECT Preview: May/June '94 (Patricia Snyder-Rayl)
    Re: Info SuperHighway Seminar (Steven King)
    Re: Worldwide Telecom Information (Judith Oppenheimer)
    Re: Worldwide Telecom Information (Alan Leon Varney)
    Re: What is Infopath? (Barry Margolin)
    Re: What is Infopath? (John R. Levine)
    Re: What is Infopath? (Carl Oppedahl)

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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 03 May 1994 14:48:34 MDT
From: Rob Slade
Subject: Book Review: "Modems for Dummies" by Rathbone


BKMDMDUM.RVW  940127
 
Macmillan of Canada
29 Birch Avenue
Toronto, Ontario   M4V 1E2
Elizabeth Wilson  416-963-8830  Fax: 416-923-4821
or
IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.
International Data Group
155 Bovet Road, Suite 310
San Mateo, CA   94402   USA
415-312-0650    fax: 415-286-2740
Brandon Nordin, Marketing and International Sales
"Modems for Dummies", Rathbone, 1993, 1-56884-001-2, U$16.95/C$21.95/UK#14.99
76004.3267@compuserve.com tinotin@aol.com rathbone@cerf.net
 
For those who are not reading this online, trust me.  An almost
iron-clad, gold plated, guaranteed way to turn your local computer
guru into a mumbling idiot is to give him or her a modem to set up.
Computer communications is extremely easy -- on the second call.
(Even then, I'm not so sure.  A friend calls the same BBS I do and
uses the same settings I do.  My messages go out OK using the word
wrap on the editor, his have to have a carriage return at the end of
every line.  Then, there is the national public data network that we
have here in Canada.  I have to give my high tech modem a forty
character command to convince it to act brain damaged in order to use
it as all.  Even then, the flow control doesn't work (Ceterum censeo
Datapac delendam esse).
 
All of this is to say that I have only the best wishes towards those
who try to explain modems in simple terms.  You cannot simply explain
modems; you also have to talk about telephone service, telephone
jacks, serial cables, serial connectors, conflicts and communications
software.  And that is only to test and see if the modem is working.
The installation and setup is the hardest part: usage is relatively
easy.
 
Thus, parts one and two of Rathbone's work are somewhat disappointing.
Only relatively speaking: it is easily as good as anything by, say,
Baaks (BKPRTCOM.RVW, BKMDMREF.RVW) or Pournelle (BKPCCOMB.RVW).  (It
is also a lot more fun: at least we will assume that you will find
Important Tips about keeping Chinese parsley fresh and jokes about
your mouth being your cereal port amusing when you are banging your
head about installing software.)
 
Organization of presentation is critical with newcomers.  Rathbone has
organized the material, but, in spite of extensive efforts to make
this a non- technical manual, the design is best understood by those
who already understand data communications.  This fits in with the
statement in the Introduction that this book is a reference, but
neophytes don't need a reference.  They need either a tutorial or a
cookbook.
 
Part three is substantially better.  An overview of whom to call, it
has excellent comparative coverage of Prodigy, CompuServe and America
Online.  Treatment of GEnie is quite terse, and one suspects it was
written from the perspective of a few days' exploration with a guest
account.  Delphi fares even worse, being lumped in with MCI Mail and
other specialized also-rans.  Rathbone's presentation is substantially
better balanced than other works, though, with the inclusion of
discussions of BBSes and the Internet.  Rathbone seems somewhat
hostile to the Internet, for some reason, but at least the material is
there.
 
Part four gives some very helpful troubleshooting lists organized by
symptom.  In conjunction with parts one and two, and a section from
the BBS chapter, there is likely more material altogether than in
other books.  However, without the more practical organization of
Gianone's "Using MS-DOS Kermit" (BKUMSKMT.RVW) or LeVitus and
Ihnatko's "Dr. Macintosh's Guide to the Online Universe" (BKDMBTOU.RVW), 
this may not be of much help to the beginning user.  One very good
point, though, is the lack of system bias.  Rathbone covers both Mac
and MS-DOS specific points without denigrating one or the other.
 
(A passing comment on the cartoons in the "...For Dummies" series.
These seem to be assigned by the publisher rather than the individual
authors.  They also indicate a strong commitment to recycling on the
part of IDG.  May of the cartoons reappear in different books, with
minor modifications to either the captions or elements of the
pictures.  There also doesn't seem to be much thought to matching
cartoon to content: a picture of an evil looking djinn arising out of
the smoke from a monitor which has obviously been rubbed the wrong way
introduces not the chapter on GEnie but Compuserve.)
 
For the novice, one would still have to recommend Gianone or LeVitus
and Ihnatko in order to get the best chance for connection.  Rathbone,
however, is possibly the best work to date for an overview of where to
call once you have "OK" to your "AT".
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994   BKMDMDUM.RVW  940127. Distribution is
permitted via TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists.

======================
DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters
Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733
DECUS Symposium '95, Toronto, ON, February 13-17, 1995, contact:
rulag@decus.ca

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 3 May 94 20:33:27 PDT
From: Linda Slovick <slovick@guest.apple.com>
Subject: IXC Timing Problem


I've been testing a product that must redial inter-LATA calls using
the same IXC as the original call.  The original call is made from a
pay phone (where the IXC is determined by the pay phone owner, and the
caller just dials 0-NPA-NXX-XXXX, then enters his/her calling card
number), and the redial attempts are made from a voice mail machine in
the same LATA as the pay phone (where the machine knows which PIC to
use, dials the call as 10XXX-0-NPA-NXX-XXXX, then tries to "guess"
when the IXC will want the original caller's calling card number
entered by "listening" to the call's progress through the IXCs
announcements, etc.).

So far, testing this product has been a nightmare.  It appears that
different IXCs have totally different timing requirements.  Some have
a bongtone, some don't, one has a chime, some have an announcement,
some just sit there, etc.  This intro verbage varied from 0 to 6
seconds in length, though it seemed pretty consistent for a given IXC.
The window for valid calling card entry varied from 4 to 49 seconds
after whatever the IXC used for an intro (most of the IXCs seemed to
have a pretty stable window, however).  Finally, there's a 3 to 7
second lag (with or without talking, or other noise) while the calling
card is verified and my machine "thanked" for using that particular
IXC before the called party's line is rung.

As if this wasn't bad enough, there were a few IXCs with REALLY exotic
problems.  One won't allow me to redial the call at all, requiring my
voice mail machine to have them as its primary IXC.  Another has
different timing when dialed from different exchanges in the same
LATA.  One IXC totally ignored the redialed calling card number and
just dialed the call (I suppose my voice mail machine is supposed to
get billed for those calls?).

At this point, I had to call a halt to testing and go back to basics.

 From reading the Bellcore literature on the subject, I'm getting the
strong impression that we're going about this all wrong.  Bellcore
specifically mentions that timing is NOT guaranteed after the call is
handed off to the IXC.  Arrgh!

Much as I might like to just exclude the oddballs, this is NOT
an option for this project (sigh...).

Questions:

1.) This whole thing is sounding a bit like the old problems folks used
    to have trying to thread FGB calls.  The solution to that was to
    hook in to SS7ness and dump all this inband listening for
    signalling stuff.  Is there something tariffed in SS7land that I
    could hook my machine through to get signalling that all the IXCs
    would have to respect?

2.) Is there some standards body for IXCs like Bellcore is to the LECs
    (maybe CCITT?) where I might find documentation on this subject?
    (any documentation pointers?)

3.) Anybody have any other ideas on how to approach solving this
    problem?

Thanks for any and all info and ideas!


Linda Slovick   Slovick Engineering

------------------------------

From: Robert La Ferla <Robert_La_Ferla@hot.com>
Subject: Help: Bogen 2-line Friday AND Distinctive Ring Call Router
Reply-To: Robert La Ferla <Robert_La_Ferla@hot.com>
Organization: Hot Technologies
Date: Wed, 4 May 1994 03:45:15 GMT


I am looking for a distinctive ring call router that will work with a
Bogen 2-line voice mail system.  I want the long ring to go to one
mail box and the double ring to go to the other.  i.e.  trick the
Friday in thinking that there are two incoming lines.  I don't plan on
using the second line for pagers or anything.

I have a Lynx Automation Ring Director but that doesn't work -- however
I think it's because the unit is defective.

Furthermore, Hello Direct tells me that I can't use their Ring Decipher  
because:

(1) the 'pin configuration' coming from the Ring Decipher product will  
not conform to what the Friday line two port will be expecting;
(2) a 'ground loop' short will be created between the two products;
(3) the call forwarding features and remote urgent notification
features will not work with distinctive ring service (with one line in  
use, the other will appear as busy).

Please e-mail since I want to get this thing up and running ASAP.


Thanks in advance,

Robert

------------------------------

From: pegasus@cyberspace.org (Patricia Snyder-Rayl)
Subject: CONNECT Preview: May/June '94
Date: 3 May 1994 14:37:59 -0400
Organization: Cyberspace Communications Public-Access UNIX


                  CONNECT Magazine Table of Contents
                  Vol 2 No 3           May/June 1994   

FEATURES

Education Online by Jack Germain
     CONNECT magazine scoured Cyberspace for online learning opportunities
     and this article brings you the results of our exhaustive search.

Kids in Cyberspace by Rilla Moulden
     This article takes another look at the blending of online activities
     and education, with real-life examples of how online resources are
     helping kids and parents.

File Express for Windows by the CONNECT Technical Staff
     A review of Synergy Communication's File Express for Windows, the
     remote file management software which brings "The Worldwide Desktop" to
     your PC.

National Videotex Network by Alan Frayer
     An avid National Videotex Network (NVN) member introduces CONNECT
     readers to the online service and what it has to offer.

Cryptography for the Unwashed Masses by L. Detweiler
     Privacy issues are an important part of the "information superhighway"
     debate. This article helps average users understand what's at stake and
     why cryptography should be important to them.

CRIS -- A New Kind of Online Serivce by Bill Rayl
     The author takes a look at CRIS, a new online service offering the best
     features of BBSes and national commercial services.

Prodigy Revisited by Mike Whalen
     Prodigy has had its ups and downs in the last few years, but the author
     tells us why he's recently given Prodigy another chance.

Getting Lost on the Internet by Hal Hill
     Don't know your way around the vast Internet universe? This article
     teaches you to stop worrying and learn to love being lost. Getting
     there really can be half the fun!

A Security Primer for BBS Operators by Geoff Northcott
     Crackers and others bent on breaking into systems have been a part of
     the online world since the first BBS took callers. In this article, the
     author shares some common sense ideas on how to make your system more
     secure.

WORDNET Translation Service by Bryce Webster
     This article shows how businesses benefit from an online language
     translation service available 24 hours a day, thanks to computers,
     modems, faxes and some of the best translators in the business.

COLUMNS

The Inside Line
     Editorial Staff Columnist Michael A. Banks is on the move, and he
     explains how the online services are helping him decide on his
     destination.

Eye on America Online
     Columnist Julia Wilkinson focuses on the Lifestyles and Interests areas
     on America Online.

Connecting with CompuServe
     Electronic privacy issues and encryption tools available on CIS are
     discussed by Columnist Jim Ness, who also takes a detour to access two
     useful online databases.

Telecomputing the DELPHI Way
     Columnist Dick Evans talks about DELPHI's planned GUI interface, online
     etiquette, USA Gymnastics online, the Fox Network, and more.

GEnie's Treasures
     Continuing this issue's focus on online education, Columnist Jim
     Mallory tours the educational services available on GEnie.

The Internet Gateway
     Columnist Paul Gilster gives useful tips on using Veronica to find
     information on the Internet.

Clear to Send
     Stop your search for the ultimate PC-based terminal program, because
     columnist Victor Volkman says Terminate is it!

Dial M for Macintosh
     Columnist Ross Scott Rubin reports the latest developments concerning
     eWorld, Apple's newest venture into the online service market.

Staying Connected for about a Pound
     Sending e-mail and keeping in touch using the Apple Newton MessagePad
     is Columnist Marty Mankins' focus this issue.  


CONNECT magazine is available at the following magazine outlets: B.Dalton
Bookseller, Bookstop, Bookstar, Barnes & Noble, Doubleday, Scribner's,
Crown Books, Tower Books, Little Professor, Lichtman's News and Books,
Coles Book Stores, CompUSA, Computer City and Software Etc. chains, as well
as other chains and independent newsstands, book stores and computer
dealers in the U.S. and Canada. Call (313) 973-8825 to find the magazine
dealer nearest you who carries CONNECT.

CONNECT is a bi-monthly magazine covering the major commercial online
services (such as America Online, BIX, CompuServe, DELPHI, GEnie and
Prodigy), the Internet, and bulletin board system networks (such as
Fidonet, WWIVnet, and GlobalNet). The magazine is platform-independent,
with columns focusing on PC-specific (DOS and Windows), Macintosh-oriented,
and Palmtop/PDA-related topics.


   CONNECT Magazine         (313) 973-8825      Covering commercial online
"The Modem User's Resource" (313) 973-0411 fax  services, Internet and BBS
   3487 Braeburn Circle     (313) 973-9137 BBS    networks from a user's  
   Ann Arbor, MI  48108        14.4Kbps V.32bis        perspective.

------------------------------

From: king@wildebeest.cig.mot.com (Steven King, Software Archaeologist)
Subject: Re: Info SuperHighway Seminar
Date: 3 May 1994 14:26:11 GMT
Organization: Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group
Reply-To: king@wildebeest.cig.mot.com


Roy_Kerwood@mindlink.bc.ca (Roy Kerwood) publicly declared:

> I have organized the following seminar for June 24 from 8AM - 8PM:

>          THE TRAVELLERS GUIDE TO THE INFO SUPERHIGHWAY

This is a public plea to anyone who uses world-wide newsgroups or
mailing lists to announce a seminar, lecture, symposium, or other
gathering of corporeal bodies:

PLEASE STATE WHERE THE EVENT IS GOING TO OCCUR!

I found this announcement in the TELECOM Digest, which *is* a
world-wide forum.  I saw the announcement four times and I still don't
know where the seminar is going to take place.  The mailing address
for tickets is Vancouver so I assume that's where the event is to be
held, but then again it may simply be a convenient mailing address for
the persons working pre-registration.  The actual event may be held
anywhere.

And it looks especially silly for an event teaching about "WORLDWIDE
Internet Connections" to be parochial and assume that only locals will
read the announcement.


Steven King <king@cig.mot.com> -- Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group

------------------------------

From: producer@pipeline.com (Judith Oppenheimer)
Subject: Re: Worldwide Telecom Information
Date: 3 May 1994 14:51:57 -0400
Organization: The Pipeline


The Telecommunications Library in CompuServe seems to be pretty
thorough.  I'd be surprised if you didn't find at least *some* of what
you were looking for there.

> I am looking for information about the current telephony
> infrastructure in each country around the world. Is there such a
> source anywhere?  


Oppenheimer Producer@pipeline.com

------------------------------

From: Alan.Leon.Varney@att.com
Date: Tue, 3 May 1994 14:28:35 +0600
Subject: Re: Worldwide Telecom Information
Organization: AT&T Network Systems


In article <telecom14.195.2@eecs.nwu.edu> gpalmer@dgs.dgsys.com (Ion
Publishing Systems) writes:

> I am looking for information about the current telephony
> infrastructure in each country around the world. Is there such a
> source anywhere?

   Dataquest is a Dunn-Bradstreet company that has a subscription
service for a newletter/multi-volume-binder set of information on
Telephone Services, markets, vendors, etc.  Their address/phone is
probably easily found in any large library's reference section.

   They are not cheap.

------------------------------

From: barmar@Think.COM (Barry Margolin)
Subject: Re: What is Infopath?
Date: 3 May 1994 22:48:16 GMT
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA


In article <telecom14.192.9@eecs.nwu.edu> gayton@world.std.com (Gayton
Osgood) writes:

> My local library has put their card catalog on line but in order to
> access it they say you must have a NYNEX Infopath account and to
> contact the phone company to open one. I don't know wnhat an Infopath
> account is or how much it costs. I am reluctant to pay NYNEX ant more
> than I already do. If anyone has one of these accounts could you tell
> me a little about it.

Infopath is NYNEX's public X.25 data network.  It's basically a
regional analogue of the international networks Tymnet and SprintNet
(formerly Telenet).  You can call a local number, enter your user name
and password, and then connect to the server system.  I think rates
are around $5-10/hour, depending on the time of day; there may also be
monthly subscriber charges.


Barry Margolin     System Manager, Thinking Machines Corp.
barmar@think.com      {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 3 May 94 22:54 EDT
From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine)
Subject: Re: What is Infopath?
Organization: I.E.C.C., Cambridge, Mass.


Infopath is the intra-LATA X.25 network operated by NYNEX.  It is
indeed used by many suburban libraries to link to a shared on-line
catalog.  For more info on Infopath, call a NYNEX business office.
It's really stupid that they don't have any dial-ins at all -- for
casual use it's a lot easier to pay for a few 50 cent toll calls than
to get set up on Infopath.

I have heard rumors that there's an Internet link to the suburban
libraries catalog but I haven't been able to pin it down.

There's a similar network of urban libraries (Cambridge, Somerville,
etc.)  and I don't know whether they're dialable, Internettable or
not.

Online public library catalogs are wonderful things.  The library near
my beach cottage in New Jersey is part of the Ocean County library
which added dial-in service (regular 2400 POTS, no X.25 nonsense) to
their catalog last year, thoughtfully providing three local numbers,
one per LATA, so it's a local call from anywhere in the county.  You
can look for books, check whether copies are checked in or out, put
yourself on the hold list for a popular book, and ask for books in
other branches to be fetched to your local library.  It's great -- I
dial in from home in the morning, tell it to get the book I want, and
I usually get a call from the library the next afternoon so I hop on
my bike and go down and get it.  For some really popular books, e.g.
new Sue Grafton mysteries, they have 100 copies but there are 300
people on the waiting list, so I can call in from home and put myself
on the hold list a few weeks before I go down so my turn comes up
while I'm still there to get the book.


Regards,

John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, jlevine@delphi.com, 1037498@mcimail.com

------------------------------

From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl)
Subject: Re: What is Infopath?
Date: 3 May 1994 00:32:55 -0400
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC


In <telecom14.192.9@eecs.nwu.edu> gayton@world.std.com (Gayton Osgood)
writes:

> My local library has put their card catalog on line but in order to
> access it they say you must have a NYNEX Infopath account and to
> contact the phone company to open one. I don't know wnhat an Infopath
> account is or how much it costs. I am reluctant to pay NYNEX ant more
> than I already do. If anyone has one of these accounts could you tell
> me a little about it.

I have never understood Nynex's babble-names for digital services.  I
assume one of them is switched-56, another must be ISDN, another must
be a fancy name for a T1 line.

Why not ask the library to introduce you to one or two people who
actually have access to the card catalog?  They could tell you how
they do it.

Here in New York City there is a number that you can call with a
"regular" modem (a V.32 or V.32bis modem) and then you dial a number,
and end up calling infopath destinations.  I always assumed it must
simply be an ISDN gateway.  It's 212-385-2551.  Perhaps someone can
explain what that number really is.


Carl Oppedahl AA2KW    Oppedahl & Larson (patent lawyers)
Yorktown Heights, NY   voice 212-777-1330  

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #198
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