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TELECOM Digest Tue, 5 Apr 2005 14:15:00 EDT Volume 24 : Issue 145 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Prison Cell Phone Scandal (Lisa Minter) MIT Developing $100 Laptops for Children (Lisa Minter) Free VOIP Resources - Learn VOIP (H.323, SIP, MGCP, RTP) (tek junkie) Verizon FTTP in Mass (Monty Solomon) Cingular Mobi-MLB.com Gameday Audio (Monty Solomon) Update, was: NYS AG Spitzer Gets Verizon to Wake Up. (Danny Burstein) Lingo - Stay Far, Far Away (radezeeuw@yahoo.com) Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox Warns Consumers (Jack Decker) Microsoft Targets RIM's BlackBerry With Software Update (Telecom daily) Verizon Threatens to Walk Away From MCI Offer (Telecom dailyLead USTA) Re: The Real Reason Why SBC Won't Work With Vonage on E-911 (S Sobol) Re: The Real Reason Why SBC Won't Work With Vonage on E-911 (Justin Tim) Re: USB to RJ-45 Console Cable? (nmclain@annsgarden.com) Re: USB to RJ-45 Console Cable? (Scott Dorsey) Re: USB to RJ-45 Console Cable? (James Carlson) Re: Sprint PCS Vision Added to Open Relay DataBase (SELLCOM Tech) Re: Sprint PCS Vision Added to Open Relay DataBase (Scott Dorsey) Re: Some Concerned About Privacy Implications of E-ZPass (G Berkowitz) Re: Some Concerned About Privacy Implications of E-ZPass (Justin Time) Re: Every Ten Days (Hank Karl) Re: Does Your Computer Look Like This? (Paul Vader) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com> Subject: Prison Cell Phone Scandal Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 19:48:01 -0400 Prisoners sometimes smuggle in cell phones to use in continuing their criminal enterprises. Follow this link to view the article: Prison Cell Phone Scandal <http://www.syncmag.com/article2/0,1759,1763276,00.asp> Copyright (c) 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 14:51:21 PDT From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com> Subject: MIT Developing $100 Laptops for Children http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/ptech/04/04/hundred.dollar.laptops.ap/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 10:05:16 PDT From: tek junkie <tekjockey@yahoo.com> Subject: Free VOIP Resources - Learn VOIP (H.323, SIP, MGCP, RTP) ============================================================== >>>>>Free VOIP RESOURCES - Learn VOIP (H.323, SIP, MGCP, RTP) ============================================================== All, Learn VOIP (H.323, SIP, MGCP, RTP) at: http://www.voip-start.com Tutorials, news, resource links and pdf's on learning voip. Great for: businesses looking to implement VOIP in their companies professionals seeking knowledge. Fresh content - updated daily! Vist the links and feed your appetite for knowledge! http://www.voip-start.com Check it out... :-) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 20:26:20 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Verizon FTTP in Mass. Verizon Brings Fiber to Consumers and Small Businesses in 11 Additional Massachusetts Communities Industry-Leading Verizon Fiber-to-the-Premises Network Means Blazing-Fast Data, Crystal Clear Voice and Video Capability Company's Transformational Technology to Benefit Residential and Business Customers, Boost Economic Development BOSTON, April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon is bringing to 11 additional communities in Massachusetts one of the most significant advancements in telecommunications technology in the past 100 years. The company today announced it is rolling out a fiber-optic network - known as fiber to the premises, or FTTP -- to many customers in the communities of Georgetown, Hamilton, Littleton, Marlborough, Middleboro, Needham, Stoneham, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Wakefield and Wenham. The all-fiber network will deliver faster data speeds and crystal clear voice, and also has the capability to offer a full suite of video services, a competitive choice to existing cable television providers. The company will seek a franchise agreement before offering cable TV service in a selected community. Today's announcement brings to 39 the number of communities in eastern Massachusetts identified by the company for deployment of its all-fiber network. The others are Andover, Bedford, Belmont, Boxford, Burlington, Canton, Dedham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Lakeville, Lexington, Lincoln, Lynn, Lynnfield, North Reading, Nahant, Natick, Newton, Reading, Sherborn, Swampscott, Topsfield, Wellesley, Westborough, West Newbury, Westwood, Winchester and Woburn. FTTP uses hair-thin strands of fiber and optical electronics to directly link homes and businesses to Verizon's network. The state-of-the-art network upgrade will unleash a range of advanced communication services. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48122799 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 20:59:37 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Cingular Mobi-MLB.com Gameday Audio MobiTV and Cingular Pitch Live Major League Baseball Audio Broadcast to Mobile Phones Cingular Wireless Customers Can Now Access Live MLB Broadcasts Right from Their Wireless Phones ATLANTA and BERKELEY, Calif., April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless, the largest wireless carrier in the U.S., and MobiTV, the world's first television network for mobile phones, today launched the availability of Mobi- MLB.com Gameday Audio to Cingular Wireless subscribers. Cingular's customers can now listen live to every Major League Baseball game played from opening day to the World Series, directly from their wireless phones. Cingular's Mobi-MLB.com Gameday Audio service provides subscribers with access to more than 2,500 MLB games with the same audio broadcast available on radio. This agreement with MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM) delivers unlimited access to subscribers who can choose up to 30 feeds each day with the option to select their home team announcers. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48122145 ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein <dannyb@panix.com> Subject: Update, was: NYS AG Spitzer Gets Verizon to Wake Up. A Bit Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 01:21:45 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In <Pine.NEB.4.62.0504032223370.21084@panix5.panix.com> danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> writes: > "Verizon to block 'cramming' of computer charges on phone bills > By MICHAEL GORMLEY, AP Writer April 3, 2005, 12:16 PM EDT > "Albany NY - Verizon Communications Inc. will fight the 'cramming ' > of unauthorized charges by companies such as Internet providers that > appear on phone bills. It's now up on Spitzer's site: http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2005/apr/apr04a_05.html Typical paragraph: "Verizon must terminate contracts with third parties that have persistent complaint levels. The Attorney GeneralÕs investigation found that in some cases, Verizon did not promptly take action against parties with high complaint levels, even after lawsuits and regulatory actions had been commenced Still no mention of anything back at the telco for facilitating these charges, no recompense to the consumer who had to notice the fake bill and take the time to complain, and no requirement for pro-activity (i.e. if 50% of "Integra-sleaze" charges are disputed, Verizon can let the other 50% of the payments made by the recipients go through). But it's a decent start. Personally I believe anyone sending 10,000 fake bills through a telco (and the telco that assists) should be treated to the same criminal charges that anyone mailing out 10,000 fake invoices, hoping that 1/4 of the recipients would send in a check, would get. _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: radezeeuw@yahoo.com <rdezeeuw@gmail.com> Subject: Lingo - Stay Far, Far Away Date: 4 Apr 2005 13:32:10 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I have had Lingo for a few months and continuously had bad connections ... after many calls to their tech department. I cancelled it on March 9 and they told me that there was a cancellation fee of $ 39.95 because I was beyond the trial period. OK, fine, I can live with that. Now I received a bill on our credit card statement for the normal monthly fee, dated March 17 ... eight days after I cancelled. I just called the billing department and they claim that the bill was generated on March 5 and I should have been told that I might as well wait to cancel until the end of March since the billing had already occurred. But, I was not told that ... plus I was cancelling it because it did not work. So, in addition to the 39.95 cancellation fee, I get to pay for days when I did not even use it. Also -- I switched to AT&T Voice IP and it works GREAT!!!! Stay far, far way from Lingo. Rick DeZeeuw ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker <jack-yahoogroups@withheld at request> Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 11:35:42 -0400 Subject: Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox Warns Consumers of Voice Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/04-04-2005/0003329186&EDATE= Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox Warns Consumers of Voice Over the Internet Technology Limitations http://www.michigan.gov/ag Cox Concerned About Lack of 9-1-1 Coverage LANSING, Mich., April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney General Mike Cox advised consumers today about possible limitations regarding "Voice Over the Internet," or VoIP, technology. Advertised in Michigan, VoIP technology may not offer access to 9-1-1 emergency services. "While VoIP may offer less expensive telephone service, consumers should be seriously concerned about the possible risks of not having access to 9-1-1 emergency services," Cox said. "I encourage every Michigan consumer to become informed about this new technology and the important differences between it and traditional telephone service, especially in regards to proper access to the 9-1-1 emergency system." VoIP technology allows consumers to make telephone calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular telephone line. Some VoIP services do not provide access to emergency 9-1-1. A Consumer Alert detailing Cox's concerns is available at the Attorney General's Web site, http://www.michigan.gov/ag . "If the advertising, brochure, or other marketing materials are silent on this issue, it is likely that 9-1-1 is not being provided," Cox said. Even for those companies that do provide 9-1-1 service, it may not be the full service on which consumers rely. For example, the landline telephone system automatically provides 9-1-1 operators with the caller's location, while the VoIP service may not. Landline telephone systems also route 9-1-1 calls through emergency phone lines while VoIP may route these calls to a general call center. Even when the VoIP service includes traditional 9-1-1 access, it may not be automatically activated and consumers must take proactive steps in order to place a 9-1-1 call. If you are a VoIP subscriber: * Verify that you can access 9-1-1 with your telephone by checking your VoIP provider's Web site. DO NOT dial 9-1-1 to test your access to the emergency response network. * Be sure to activate the emergency calling feature of your service plan, if applicable. * If the power is out, your VoIP service may be out, too. Consider purchasing a back up power supply. * Inform children, babysitters, and visitors about your VoIP service and relevant limitations. * Consider keeping a landline telephone to access 9-1-1 emergency services. Consumers with a questions or a complaint about VoIP may contact the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division toll-free at 1-877-765-8388, by writing to P.O. Box 30213, Lansing, MI 48909, or by visiting http://www.michigan.gov/ag . The Attorney General provides Consumer Alerts to inform the public of unfair, misleading, or deceptive business practices, and to provide information and guidance on other issues of concern. SOURCE Michigan Attorney General Web Site: http://www.michigan.gov/ag How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ ate: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 12:56:42 EDT From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA <usta@dailylead.com> Subject: Microsoft targets RIM's BlackBerry with software update Telecom dailyLead from USTA April 4, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=20556&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Microsoft targets RIM's BlackBerry with software update BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Telecom Italia unloads TIM * Alaska ILEC turns to softswitch technology * SBC, Verizon set to begin long-awaited move into TV USTA SPOTLIGHT * Small Company Summit starts this Wednesday in Minneapolis EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Cable, high-tech industries draw closer in converged world * Yahoo! seen pressuring Hollywood to produce for Internet REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * AT&T appeals FCC decision on prepaid calling cards Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=20556&l=2017006 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 12:46:57 EDT From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA <usta@dailylead.com> Subject: Verizon Threatens to Walk Away From MCI Offer Telecom dailyLead from USTA April 5, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=20591&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Verizon threatens to walk away from MCI offer BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Report: VoIP adoption poised to skyrocket * Sprint lands cable deals * Leap unveils flat-rate calling plan USTA SPOTLIGHT * Announcing Phone Facts Plus 2005 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Cable takes a shot at digital convergence * The new broadband lifestyle REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Quebec's highest court outlaws satellite TV signal theft Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=20591&l=2017006 Legal and Privacy information at http://www.dailylead.com/about/privacy_legal.jsp SmartBrief, Inc. 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20005 ------------------------------ From: Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net> Subject: Re: The Real Reason Why SBC Won't Work With Vonage on E-911 Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 20:12:40 -0700 Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com Justin Time wrote: > The better rumor regarding Verizon and their plans is on the wireless > front. They will let Sprint merge with Nextel and then take Sprint > Wireless. Sprint PCS is the only other major CDMA carrier. Wrong. Alltel just got a lot larger by buying CellularONE, and USCC is not a bit player either (although they're significantly smaller than the others). Then, TELECOM Digest Editor questioned: > My second question is, isn't the walkie-talkie feature of Nextel > really just a fancy sort of speed dial which transmits over the > speaker phone? No. > Nextel 'walkie talkie' style phone and my friend in Chicago used his > Nextel walkie-talkie phone to call me, it surely would not go over > some airwaves would it? PAT] It would. JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638) Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED "The wisdom of a fool won't set you free" --New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle" [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My next question, to Steven, is about Alltel's purchase of Cellular One. _Which_ Cellular One? I had always thought 'Cellular One' was a brand name for a consortium of various cellular carriers which used the 'Cellular One' name. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Justin Time <a_user2000@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: The Real Reason Why SBC Won't Work With Vonage on E-911 Date: 5 Apr 2005 05:43:05 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com TELECOM Digest Editor originally questioned, which is more of a threat, SBC or Verizon: As far as your first question, define threat. Is Verizon or SBC a threat to what? As far as Nextel, I am not the expert on Nextel and their technology, but the analogy I use when discussing the differences between Nextel and Cellular service and the attempts to recreate the "Direct Connect" feature by carriers such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T was that Nextel was a walkie-talkie with a phone feature, the others are a cell phone with a walkie-talkie feature. Nextel was built on the LMRS, or Land Mobile Radio Service frequencies and services. This was the taxicab and business dispatch frequency band. Nextel also incorporated a lot of the "Mom and Pop" paging companies and their frequencies in order to obtain bandwidth. As far as "Direct Connect" being a "fancy sort of speed dial", you could probably argue that it is true just as my analogy is true. The Nextel (actually Motorola) implementation is known for its connect speed, normally in the range of just a couple of seconds vice the up to 10 or more for the traditional cellular carriers. The conversation is carried on in the same way as the walkie-talkies, most people scream into their device and blast everyone in the area with the maximum volume on the speaker. Some have stated if the units are close enough they will transmit between themselves directly without using a tower, otherwise they will use a site and be carried just as if it were a cell-to-cell conversation. We recently installed a Nextel base station in one of our buildings and it is configured to carry a total of 19 concurrent conversations on three frequencies. These include the "dispatch" or two-way and regular cellular type calls. It is possible for a person on the 6th floor to carry on a conversation to a unit in the basement with their two-way. While it may not sound like much, the building is almost 100 years old and has load-bearing walls on the top floor that are almost two meters thick made out of red brick. There is a 28 dB loss between the office on the outside of the wall and the inner part of the building. In terms most can relate to, that's going from four bars of signal to one. But yes Pat, if you and your friend in Chicago wanted to hold a walkie-talkie conversation it would be carried on both airwaves and landlines. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That sounds rather amazing to me, in view of the fact that we are about 700 miles from Chicago, and I have never yet seen any 'radio equipment' (with ease to carry around, and battery operated and low radiation power) which could cover such a distance. I could see a few miles in a city, or two such units in a town like this where I am, but Citizen Band, 2-meter units, and even the older style pocket pagers cannot 'make a trip' like that, (700 miles from Chicago) but Nextel can? Regards 'threat', I was referring to the 'threat' to consumers, in making informed choices in telecom services. Which of them -- Verizon or SBC -- is more likely to clamp the lid down on us sometime soon if they are able to do so? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 21:13:35 -0600 From: nmclain@annsgarden.com Subject: Re: USB to RJ-45 Console Cable? JXM2119 <jxm2119_AT_rochester.rr.com@syrcnyrdrs-01.nyroc.rr.com> wrote: > I would like to buy/make a cable that will have a USB > connector on one end and an RJ-45 on the other. If by "RJ-45" you mean an 8-position modular connector wired to carry an Ethernet circuit, you'll need an adapter such as Planet Technology Corp. Model PT9500. I have two of these devices in service, connecting oldish PCs (W98) to a Linksys router. They work great. L-Com sells the adapter, including the software driver (3.5" floppy), for $29.00. See http://tinyurl.com/6ddc3 . > I'm not sure if it is as easy as cutting off a connector > on the usb and just terminating the RX/TX/GND like you > can do with a serial cable (DB-9). Ethernet uses balanced circuits, whereas EIA-232 (formerly RS-232) and EIA-574 (same voltages as EIA-232, but implemented with a DB-9 connector) use unbalanced circuits. It takes more than just a different connector to make the transition between balanced and unbalanced. Neal McLain ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: USB to RJ-45 Console Cable? Date: 4 Apr 2005 18:50:56 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) JXM2119 <jxm2119_AT_rochester.rr.com@syrcnyrdrs-01.nyroc.rr.com> wrote: > I have already read and seen that there are cables/adapters that > go from USB to DB-9. That would allow you to connect your standard > serial console cable as you normally would. I am trying to find a way > to eliminate this. Those boxes have a lot of electronics inside them, basically one FPGA that is programmed to do all the conversion. > I would like to buy/make a cable that will have a USB connector on one > end and an RJ-45 on the other. I'm not sure if it is as easy as > cutting off a connector on the usb and just terminating the RX/TX/GND > like you can do with a serial cable (DB-9). No, it's not even close. This would be like transplanting a dog's head on a human being. It takes a good bit of glue logic, and I suppose you could build all the glue yourself with TTL but you'd wind up with a big expensive box full of stuff. What is wrong with the USB/RS-232C interface boxes that you don't like? Can you just put a serial card in your machine? --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'd feel very sorry for the dog, if the animal lived through it all. PAT] ------------------------------ From: James Carlson <james.d.carlson@sun.com> Subject: Re: USB to RJ-45 Console Cable? Date: 05 Apr 2005 11:13:57 -0400 Organization: Sun Microsystems JXM2119 <> writes: > I have already read and seen that there are cables/adapters that > go from USB to DB-9. That would allow you to connect your standard > serial console cable as you normally would. I am trying to find a way > to eliminate this. > I would like to buy/make a cable that will have a USB connector on one > end and an RJ-45 on the other. I'm not sure if it is as easy as > cutting off a connector on the usb and just terminating the RX/TX/GND > like you can do with a serial cable (DB-9). Most of the ones I've seen have the electronics that "convert" USB into RS-232 embedded in the DB-9 end of the cable, so lopping that off would give you a useless wire. > I know there may be some issues with going from USB to RS-232 > signaling and I could always build some kind of breakout box in the > middle. > Any thoughts????? It's probably simpler to get a passive DB-9 to RJ45 adapter and plug that on the end of a USB to DB-9 cable. James Carlson, KISS Interop <james.d.carlson@sun.com> Sun Microsystems / 1 Network Drive 71.234W Vox +1 781 442 2084 MS UBUR02-212 / Burlington MA 01803-2757 42.497N Fax +1 781 442 1677 ------------------------------ From: SELLCOM Tech support <support@sellcom.com> Subject: Re: Sprint PCS Vision Added to Open Relay DataBase Organization: www.sellcom.com Reply-To: support@sellcom.com Date: Sun, 03 Apr 2005 18:25:49 GMT jmeissen@aracnet.com posted on that vast internet thingie: > In article <telecom24.138.7@telecom-digest.org>, > Eric Friedebach <friedebach@yahoo.com> wrote: >> It seems that Sprint has been added to the Open Relay DataBase >> <www.ordb.org> by mistake somehow. Sprint has no idea how this >> happened, and they can't tell me when this will be resolved. If you trace route to many of the spam / porn sites being spamvertised you will find that their websites are provided US connectivity by the scum at sprintlink.net. I have had some that I have received spam for weeks and sprintlink.net continues to enable the foreign spam websites in spite of repeated notice. Steve http://www.sellcom.com Discount multihandset cordless phones by Panasonic 5.8Ghz 2line; TMC ET4300 4line Epic phone, OnHoldPlus, Brickmail voicemail Brick wall "non MOV" surge protection. Firewood splitters www.splitlogs.com If you sit at a desk www.ergochair.biz. New www.electrictrains.biz ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Sprint PCS Vision Added to Open Relay DataBase Date: 4 Apr 2005 18:59:05 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Eric Friedebach <friedebach@yahoo.com> wrote: > It seems that Sprint has been added to the Open Relay DataBase > <www.ordb.org> by mistake somehow. Sprint has no idea how this > happened, and they can't tell me when this will be resolved. In my basic experience, ORDB is pretty good about removing sites within a day or so of a problem being resolved. This, however, requires sysadmins who understand how the mail system works and who have the skill to fix it. This is almost certainly absent at Sprint if my experiences with them are any judge. These days the most common way of getting an open relay is to have a Windows machine that is infected with any one of a number of viruses that install them. But, with a machine that is intended to relay messages to an external network, there are a large number of ways that an incompetent admin can hose things up. I would not be surprised if nobody at Sprint DOES understand the problem. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: Gene S. Berkowitz <first.last@comcast.net> Subject: Re: Some Concerned About Privacy Implications of E-ZPass System Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 23:26:10 -0400 In article <telecom24.1 43.12@telecom-digest.org>, dave@compata.com says: > Stuart Barkley <stuartb@4gh.net> writes: >> The article and discussion here both miss what I consider a more >> important issue with the EZ-pass system: > And another issue, maybe not so important, but serious for some: > portability. If you travel on business and rent a car, you are usually > stuck using the cash lanes on local toll roads. Even if you have a > working transponder at home which is compatible with the local system, > you aren't supposed to try using it. The transponder is only valid for > use in a registered vehicle, which your rental car isn't. > Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Politics is the business of getting > dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 power and privilege without > dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu possessing merit." - P. J. O'Rourke I've been wondering about this. Why can't the rental cars include an EZ-pass, then simply bill you for tolls accrued during the rental period? The only thing worse than a clueless tourist is a clueless tourist blocking the EZ-pass lane. --Gene ------------------------------ From: Justin Time <a_user2000@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Some Concerned About Privacy Implications of E-ZPass System Date: 4 Apr 2005 12:35:06 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Uhmm "Registered Vehicle"???? > The transponder is only valid for use in a registered vehicle, which > your rental car isn't. Since when aren't rental cars registered? Every one I've ever driven, and even those in the state of California had a vehicle registration in the car -- or else it wouldn't have had plates. ------------------------------ From: Hank Karl <notgiven@nothere.com> Subject: Re: Every Ten Days Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 17:00:37 -0400 Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/ On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 18:08:04 -0500, Choreboy <choreboyREMOVE@localnet.com> wrote: > I hesitate to call the toll-free number, but I don't want to keep > running to answer the phone for a company that intends to hang up on > me. What should I do? Report them to the FCC. The TSR (which includes the national "do not call" list) requires Telemarketers to have a low call abandonment rate, and to play a message stating who called if no agent is available. They also must allow the phone to ring for either (IIRC) four rings or fifteen seconds. > Choreboy > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That telephone number 1-877-467-3277 > belongs to 'Sears Home Improvement Products'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: Does Your Computer Look Like This? Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 21:29:52 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations Patrick Townson <ptownson@cableone.net> writes: > with the Rand Corporation put together an artist's conception of what > computers would look like in fifty years, in 2004. Look at it here. > http://www.mountainwings.com/past/5082.htm > This is _not_ an April Fool's joke. Perhaps not, but it is a made up picture: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/computer.asp * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ 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 networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. 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Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. 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. End of TELECOM Digest V24 #145 ****************************** | |