TELECOM Digest     Tue, 16 Aug 2005 17:52:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 370

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    New Focus on Cyber Terrorism (Nathaniel Hoopes)
    New Worm Targeting Windows (Reuters News Wire)
    2 PRIs - Failover (rmalarc)
    Jun Murai Recognized With the Internet Society Postel Award (P. Godwin)
    VoIP Provider Appeals FCC's 911 Deadline (USTelecom dailyLead)
    Museum of Communications - Seattle (and Others) (Bob Vaughan)
    Re: Telephone Exchange Usage in Low-Volume States (jared)
    Re: Telephone Exchange Usage in Low-Volume States (John Levine)
    Re: Telephone Exchange Usage in Low-Volume States (Joseph)
    Re: Telephone Exchange Usage in Low-Volume States (Robert Bonomi)
    Re: Classic Six-Button Keysets - Cost During 1970s (BV124@aol.com)
    Re: Classic Six-Button Keysets - Cost During 1970s (Bob Vaughan)
    Re: Classic Six-Button Keysets - Cost During 1970s? (Joseph)
    Six-Button Keysets - Additional Lines in Europe (Charles G Gray)
    Re: Urgent Help Needed With Internet Explorer IE 6.0 (William Warren)
    Re: FSK Signal For Voicemail on MCI (Fred Atkinson)
    Re: How Long Can a Telephone Extension Cord Be? (Robert Bonomi)
    Re: Stock Market Ticker Tape Machines? (R (jared)
    Re: Stromberg Carlson Company? (Steven Lichter)

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: Nathaniel Hoopes <csm@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: New Focus on Cyber Terrorism 
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 14:28:31 -0500


     At risk: computers that run power grids, refineries.

By Nathaniel Hoopes, Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

Buried deep in America's new energy legislation is a requirement
that power companies step up their safeguards against computer attack.

Why does a law aimed at boosting energy production address the dangers
of hackers, software "worms," and computer viruses? Because the
automatic networks that run so-called "critical infrastructure" are
emerging as a vital - and weak - link in America's defense against
terrorism.

Networks run everything from water-treatment plants and oil refineries
to power grids and transport networks. They constantly read data and
adjust, opening a valve here, closing a tank there, often keeping the
facility operating 24/7. In the wrong hands, however, such systems
could be compromised.

"People downplay the importance of cyber-security, claiming that no
one will ever die in a cyber-attack, but they're wrong," says Richard
Clarke, a former terrorism and cyber-security czar in the Bush
administration. "This is a serious threat."

In March, for instance, hackers gained access to the electronic
control systems of the nation's electric power grid, says Dave Powner
a cyber-security specialist at the US Government Accountability Office
(GAO). In 2003, a computer "worm" on the Internet may have helped
delay power companies' response to the major Midwest and Northeast
power outage, although the electric industry says it has found no
evidence of a cyber-related effect. In all, the first half of 2005 saw
237 cyber-attacks worldwide - a 50 percent rise from the same period
last year, according to IBM's global security intelligence team.

From a national security viewpoint, the real danger is that a
determined and talented cyber-terrorist could break into a utility or
chemical plant's computer network and manipulate the sensor-control
systems, experts say. That could set off an "accident" that could kill
not just workers at the plant, but thousands of civilians in the
surrounding area. Nearly 300 critical-infrastructure facilities lie in
densely populated regions with 50,000 or more local residents,
according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

"An attack on the scale of the Bhopal disaster in India is not
impossible," says Mr. Clarke, citing the chemical leak that killed
some 3,800 people in 1984.

Despite such a nightmare scenario, federal officials are more
immediately focused on the threat of a dual attack, says Mr. Powner of
the GAO. "There is a lot of concern in government about what the FBI
calls a swarming terrorist attack. You have a physical attack and a
simultaneous cyber-attack on critical infrastructure -- that really
hurts your ability to respond."

The cascading effect of such an attack could cost the nation billions
of dollars. And getting the incredibly complex systems up and running
again wouldn't be easy, security experts say.

Many experts say that DHS is still relatively unprepared to protect
America's critical infrastructure against a cyber-attack.

"In government, when it came to senior level focus after Sept. 11,
99.9 percent was skewed towards physical protection, and
cyber-security took a back seat," says Paul Kurtz, director of the
Cyber Security Industry Alliance and a former Bush administration
official. But he is optimistic that attitudes are changing.

Facing mounting pressure, DHS is creating a national cyberspace
response system. Supporters claim it will help the government work
with the private sector to prevent, detect, and respond to cyber
incidents.  In November, DHS will launch its first major national
exercise -- code-named "Cyberstorm" -- to test the government's
ability to partner with the private sector in response to a major
cyber incident.

Last month, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff created a new post,
assistant secretary of cyber and telecommunications security, a
position that Mr. Kurtz says will carry the necessary clout.

But Clarke points out that the position hasn't been filled yet.
"So far it's been all talk," he says.

Power companies aren't waiting around for governments to protect
them. "Ultimately industry has to be responsible for protecting its
own assets," says Ellen Vancko of the North American Electric
Reliability Council. The council is developing cyber-security
standards, which its members will have to uphold.

The industry has a lot to address, Clarke says. "Every time the
government has tested the security of the electric power industry,
we've been able to hack our way in - sometimes through an obscure
route like the billing system," he says. "Computer-security officers
at a number of chemical plants have indicated privately that they are
very concerned about the openness of their networks and how easily
they might be penetrated."

Copyright 2005 The Christian Science Monitor.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without
profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the
understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic
issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I
believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S.  Copyright Law. If you wish
to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go
beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright
owner, in this instance, Christian Science Publishing Society. 

For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

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

From: Reuters News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: New Worm Targeting Windows
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 15:26:57 -0500


A new Internet virus targeting recently uncovered flaws in Microsoft
Corp.'s Windows operating system is circulating on the Internet, an
anti-virus computer software maker said on Monday.

The ZOTOB virus appeared shortly after the world's largest software
maker warned of three newly found "critical" security flaws in its
software last week, including one that could allow attackers to take
complete control of a computer.

Trend Micro Inc. said that the worm exploits security holes in
Microsoft's Windows 95, 98, ME, NE, 2000 and XP platforms and can give
computer attackers remote access to affected systems.

"Hundreds of infection reports were sighted in the United States and
Germany," Tokyo-based Trend Micro said.

But computer security engineers at Microsoft said that the worm is
only targeting Windows 2000 and not the other versions of Windows.

"It only affected Windows 2000," said Stephen Toulouse, a manager at
Microsoft's Security Response Center. "So far its has shown a very
limited impact -- we're not seeing any widespread impact to the
Internet, but we remain vigilant."

The latest virus drops a copy of itself into the Windows system folder
as BOTZOR.EXE and modifies the system's host file in the infected
user's computer to prevent the user from getting online assistance
from anti-virus Web sites, Trend Micro added.

The worm can also connect to a specific Internet relay chat server and
give hackers remote control over affected systems, which can be used
to infect other unpatched machines in a network and slow down network
performance.

"Since most users may not be aware of this newly announced security
hole so as to install the necessary patch during last weekend, we can
foresee more infections from WORM_ZOTOB," it said.

Last Tuesday, Microsoft issued patches to fix its security flaws as
part of its monthly security bulletin. The problems affect the Windows
operating system and Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser.

Microsoft has warned that an attacker could exploit a vulnerability in
its Internet Explorer Web browser, lure users to malicious Web pages
and could run a software code on the user's PC giving the attacker
control of the affected computer.

Computer users should update their anti-virus pattern files and apply
the latest Microsoft patches to protect their computer systems, Trend
Micro said.

More than 90 percent of the world's PCs run on the Windows operating
system and Microsoft has been working to improve the security and
reliability of its software.


Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. 

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

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

From: rmalarc <rmalarc@msn.com>
Subject: 2 PRIs - Failover
Date: 16 Aug 2005 05:54:11 -0700


Hello,

I currently have a PRI with a bunch of DIDs operating in site A. We
are planning to set up a site B with its own PRI and its own DIDs. I
would like to be able to also set up PRI B so it serves as a backup to
PRI A.

Here are the options I've thought of:

-. All calls ring PRI A and should it be down they ring PRI B

-. All calls to PRI A ring PRI A and PRI B simultanously. Calls to PRI
B only ring in PRI B.

Are these options feasable? Is there another way to set them up?

A few more questions:

-. should any carrier be able to set this up?

-. do both PRIs have to be with the same carrier?

Regards,


Renato A.

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

From: Peter Godwin <godwin@isoc.org>
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 12:43:39 +0200
Organization: Internet Society
Subject: Jun Murai Recognized With the Iinternet Society's Postel Award


2005 award goes to pioneer behind development of the Internet in the Asia
Pacific region

Reston, VA - 16th August 2005 - Professor Jun Murai is this year's
recipient of the Internet Society's prestigious Jonathan B. Postel
Service Award. The award recognises Professor Murai's vision and
pioneering work that helped countless others to spread the Internet
across the Asia Pacific region.

The Postel Award was presented during the 63rd meeting of the Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF) in Paris, France by Daniel Karrenberg,
chair of this year's Postel award committee, and Lynn St. Amour,
President and CEO of the Internet Society.

"Jun Murai has always encouraged, inspired and helped others,
particularly his students and his colleagues in other parts of the
Asia Pacific region," said Karrenberg. "He has also played a key role
in creating structures for Internet coordination in the region
(particularly APNIC), and he is widely recognised for his recent
pioneering work in IPv6 implementation."

Jun Murai is currently Vice-President, Keio University in Japan, where
he is a Professor in the Faculty of Environmental Information. In
1984, he developed the Japan University UNIX Network (JUNET), and in
1988 established the WIDE Project (a Japanese Internet research
consortium) of which he continues to serve as the General
Chairperson. He is President of the Japan Network Information Center
(JPNIC), a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Internet
Society and a former member of ICANN's Board of Directors.

The Jonathan B. Postel Service Award was established by the Internet
Society to honor those who have made outstanding contributions in
service to the data communications community. The award is focused on
sustained and substantial technical contributions, service to the
community, and leadership. With respect to leadership, the nominating
committee places particular emphasis on candidates who have supported
and enabled others in addition to their own specific actions.

The award is named after Dr. Jonathan B. Postel, who embodied all of
these qualities during his extraordinary stewardship over the course
of a thirty-year career in networking. He served as the editor of the
RFC series of notes from its inception in 1969, until 1998. He also
served as the ARPANET "numbers Czar" and the Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority over the same period of time. He was a founding member of
the Internet Architecture Board and the first individual member of the
Internet Society, where he also served as a trustee.

Previous recipients of the Postel Award include Jon himself
(posthumously and accepted by his mother), Scott Bradner, Daniel
Karrenberg, Stephen Wolff, Peter Kirstein and Phill Gross. The award
consists of an engraved crystal globe and $20,000.

ABOUT ISOC

The Internet Society (http://www.isoc.org) is a not-for-profit
membership organization founded in 1992 to provide leadership in
Internet related standards, education, and policy. With offices in
Washington, DC, and Geneva, Switzerland, it is dedicated to ensuring
the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the
benefit of people throughout the world. ISOC is the organizational
home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and other
Internet-related bodies who together play a critical role in ensuring
that the Internet develops in a stable and open manner. For over 13
years ISOC has run international network training programs for
developing countries and these have played a vital role in setting up
the Internet connections and networks in virtually every country
connecting to the Internet during this time.

FOR FURTHER DETAILS:

Peter Godwin
Communications Manager, Internet Society
E-mail: godwin@isoc.org
4, rue des Falaises
1205 Geneva
Switzerland

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

Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 12:39:35 EDT
From: USTelecom dailyLead <ustelecom@dailylead.com>
Subject: VoIP Provider Appeals FCC's 911 Deadline


USTelecom dailyLead
August 16, 2005
http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=23877&l=2017006

		TODAY'S HEADLINES
	
NEWS OF THE DAY
* VoIP provider appeals FCC's 911 deadline
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* Icahn, Time Warner's Parsons to meet
* Sprint, NFL ink wireless deal
* Broadband growth sluggish in Q2
* NTT DoCoMo executive champions "wallet phones"
USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT 
* TELECOM '05:  Preparing You for What's NEXT
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
* Vendors claim data transmission record
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE
* India's government blocks Huawei

Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others.
http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=23877&l=2017006

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

From: techie@tantivy.tantivy.net (Bob Vaughan)
Subject:  Museum of Communications - Seattle (and Others)
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 20:22:27 UTC
Organization:  Tantivy Associates


I should probably remember to mention the Museum of Communications in
Seattle, (formerly the Vintage Telephone Equipment Museum), operated
by Washington Chapter 30, TelecomPioneers.

The musuem is located at:
	7000 East Marginal Way S
	Seattle, Washington 98108
	(206) 767-3012

	(just down the street from the Museum of Flight)
	and is open Tuesdays from 8:30am to 2:00pm or by appointment.

	www.museumofcommunications.org

They have a large collection of phones, switches, tools, etc covering 
several floors. They share building space with a USWest central office.

 From the moment you walk in the door, you are surrounded by old 
communications technology, from magneto phones to broadcast radio 
transmitters, from telegraph to teletype.

They have working #1, #5 and #755 crossbar, Step-by-Step, and #3ESS, 
as well as a Panel switch, believed to be the only working panel switch 
anywhere in the world.

If you are ever in Seattle, check it out ... Arrive early, as there is a
lot to see. It is amazing just how much equipment they have managed to
shoehorn into the space that they have.

              ===========================

Pacific Bell also has/had a small museum at their headquarters at 
140 New Montgomery Street in San Francisco. I have not been there in years,
and I do not know the status of it. 
http://www.sfvisitor.org/visitorinfo/html/Soma.html

              ============================

The Roseville Telephone Company (Now SureWest) has a telephone museum in
Roseville, California (Near Sacramento)
http://www.rosevilletelephonemuseum.org/

              ============================

for more links see:
www.scn.org/tech/telmuseum/links.html 
http://www.stepintoplaces.com/Resource%20Guide/Industry/Telecommunication.htm

I also came across a page of recordings of telephone sounds.
Equipment, announcements, intercepts, etc.
http://www.wideweb.com/phonetrips/


               -- Welcome My Son, Welcome To The Machine --
Bob Vaughan  | techie @ tantivy.net 		  |
	     | P.O. Box 19792, Stanford, Ca 94309 |
-- I am Me, I am only Me, And no one else is Me, What could be simpler? --

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

Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2005 21:51:11 -0600
From: jared@nospam.au (jared)
Subject: Re: Telephone Exchange Usage in Low-Volume States


> 2) Five digit dialing in some areas not well populated or served by
> community dial offices?

Having lived in a town where an ESS was being installed, forcing
7-digit dialing, I asked a friend who worked for the then Bell Labs
why an ESS couldn't be programmed to retain 5 digits. His response was
that the opposite problem was more of a concern, i.e. allowing for 7
and 10 digit local dialing, giving as an example the situation in
Silicon Valley at the time, where the 415 and 408 area codes were
across the street from each other.

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

Date: 16 Aug 2005 05:13:46 -0000
From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
Subject: Re: Telephone Exchange Usage in Low-Volume States
Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA


> 1) Traditional party line service, since it's not worth the cost to
> upgrade lines out to people's farms?

I doubt it.  Private lines make moves and changes and maintenance
vastly cheaper.  My relatives who are trying to sell their small rural
telco in Vermont converted everything to private lines years ago.  For
the few people who still have grandfathered party lines, they tie the
lines together at the CO.

> 2) Five digit dialing in some areas not well populated or served by
> community dial offices?

Not since 1+7D went away.  I think these days you'll find that CDOs
are all remotes from modern switches that provide all of the digital
bells and whistles.  They certainly are around here.

Remember that due to the magic of USF accounting, small rural telcos
have an incentive to gold plate their plant.  That's why the CO down
the street from me has a GTD-5 with two remotes that handles a total
of about 10,000 lines.

R's,

John

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

From: Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Telephone Exchange Usage in Low-Volume States
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 06:26:48 -0700
Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com


On 15 Aug 2005 13:40:56 -0700, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

> 1) Traditional party line service, since it's not worth the cost to
> upgrade lines out to people's farms?

I am of the belief that anyone who wants a private line these days can
get one.  It used to be that if you could get a private line at all
you could only be a relatively short distance from the CO not to incur
a "mileage" charge if you wanted anything other than 8-party service.
I believe you can still get two-party service in some areas at a
reduced per month rate, but I believe private line service is pretty
much available in all but the most remote areas now.

> 2) Five digit dialing in some areas not well populated or served by
> community dial offices?

I'd say off the top of my head probably not.  When CDO's were all
step-by-step offices dialing patterns as little as three digits were
available determined by the number of subscribers and optionally could
be dialed with all seven numbers with the first few digits "absorbed"
for local callers.  When ESS came into being that all ended.

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

From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi)
Subject: Re: Telephone Exchange Usage in Low-Volume States
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 13:20:06 -0000
Organization: Widgets, Inc.


In article <telecom24.369.2@telecom-digest.org>,
<hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:

> In many places in the U.S. the demand for telephone exchanges is very
> high for a variety reasons.  This has result in area code splits and
> overlays.  NJ started off with one area code and now has nine.

> But some states still only have one area code.  I understand some
> states are not growing very fast in population, indeed, some rural
> towns are losing population.  This includes:  Alaska, Idaho, Montanna,
> North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.  (Not counting some other
> single-code states).

> Given the rural/low growth aspect of places in some of these states, I
> was wondering if telephone service may still have some old fashioned
> features to it.  For example, would such areas have:

> 1) Traditional party line service, since it's not worth the cost to
> upgrade lines out to people's farms?

Yes.

> 2) Five digit dialing in some areas not well populated or served by
> community dial offices?

*VERY* rare. Gotta have full numbers, to handle direct-dial inbound
calls from outside that exchange. Recognizing 'short cut' dialing
within the exchange raises all sorts of complexities, having to do
with 'variable length' numbers, and detecting 'end of dialing'.

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

From: BV124@aol.com
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 00:53:31 EDT
Subject: Re: Classic Six-Button Keysets - Cost During 1970s
 

Joe of Seattle wrote: 

> And as far as "hunt" goes Telco (Southwestern Bell in particular)
> did not want to give me hunt on a residential line with sequential
> line numbers when I had two lines. Actually it doesn't matter if
> it's sequential or not. Even #5 Crossbar had "jump" hunt readily
> available. In any case they didn't want to provision my residential
> line with hunt capability.  

SBC gave it to me, for non-sequential lines, in Glendale, California
for $.38/month.  I don't know if it was a "true" hunt or what they
advertise as "busy call forwarding."  In any event, they charged me
$38.00 labor to install it!  And then they refused to "alias" the
voice mail to the 1st line from the 2nd line.  They sure aren't the
Pacific Tel or AT&T of old.  I'm with you Pat, I hate those people.

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

From: techie@tantivy.tantivy.net (Bob Vaughan)
Subject:  Re: Classic Six-Button Keysets - Cost During 1970s
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 19:38:03 UTC
Organization:  Tantivy Associates


In article <telecom24.369.9@telecom-digest.org>, Joseph
<JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com> wrote:

> On Sun, 14 Aug 2005 21:01:08 -0400, Michael Muderick
> <michael.muderick@verizon.net> wrote:

>> I don't know the cost of all the features, but they were a la carte.
>> However the hunting feature was done at the CO and there was no charge
>> for that as far back as I can remember.  Remember, it meant another
>> completed call for Ma Bell, rather than a busy signal, so it was to
>> their advantage to give hunting away free, lest someone decide to opt
>> out of it.  

> And something I've always wondered about is the use of multiple lines
> in countries outside of the US such as in Europe and in Asia.  Often
> I'd see numbers advertised or on signage on the order of 123456/7
> meaning that you could reach that business by dialing either 123456 or
> 123457.  Does this mean that these step-by-step/Strowger or other
> electromechanical exchanges did not have trunk hunt and that this is
> just a North American "invention."  I can't think of any other reason
> for listing for the public both numbers if they were sequential other
> than the facility for automatic trunk hunt was not available.

The step-by-step switches were certainly capable of sequential hunting.

On the Western Electric 711B PBX, it was simply a matter of adding or
removing an insulating sleeve on one of the relay contacts to route a
connection thru adjacent lines.. I think it was the ground that was
routed, and the call would hunt until it found ground, and completed
the circuit, allowing the line relay to be closed.

In theory, you could do non-sequential hunting, but it would require
the addition of jumpers of the switch frame, while sequential hunting
could be setup by a switch tech in a minute or two.

> And as far as "hunt" goes Telco (Southwestern Bell in particular) did
> not want to give me hunt on a residential line with sequential line
> numbers when I had two lines.  Actually it doesn't matter if it's
> sequential or not.  Even #5 Crossbar had "jump" hunt readily
> available.  In any case they didn't want to provision my residential
> line with hunt capability.

I'm going to guess that they didn't normally provide hunting on
residential lines, and thus were not expecting to have to clear it
when the line was disconnected, especially if the switch served mostly
residential customers.


               -- Welcome My Son, Welcome To The Machine --
Bob Vaughan  | techie @ tantivy.net 		  |
	     | P.O. Box 19792, Stanford, Ca 94309 |
 -- I am Me, I am only Me, And no one else is Me, What could be simpler? --

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

From: Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Classic Six-Button Keysets - Cost During 1970s?
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 06:17:23 -0700
Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com


On 15 Aug 2005 11:06:12 -0700,[Telecom Digest Editor] wrote:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But the most ancient arrangement I ever
> saw was a phone with the six buttons in a separate box next to it.
> This one was in the clock tower at Holy Family Catholic Church on West
> Roosevelt Road in Chicago, back in 1972 or so. A relatively ancient
> wall phone (with a side ringer, yet) and the feed to it coming from a
> somewhat newer but still ancient side box with six round buttons on it.

I'm surprised you don't remember that all the while when "565" sets
were available for desk use there was no similar model for wall mount.
For wall mount they had a 500 set with a separate "key" box that had
the same keys as you'd find on a 565 desk set usually in the reverse
order that you'd find on the desk set with the hold button on the
extreme right and also with round keys.  It was only later that a six
button wall keyset was developed with the big square keys and the
handset which rested on top of the set.

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

Subject: Classic Six Button KeySets - Additional Lines in Europe 
From: Charles G Gray <graycg@okstate.edu>
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 08:43:59 -0500


I saw your question about multiple line hunt phone numbers in the Digest. 

As for Europe, (at least in Germany) most of the stepper switches were
Siemens/Halske RP-40.  It was first manufactured beginning in the
mid-1930s, and some was still in operation as late as 1980.  I managed
the US Army's phone system in Europe 1971-1976 and we still had
bunches of RP-40.  Siemens stopped making repair parts in about 1972,
and from then on our German switch techs pieced together what they
could.  Rotary hunt was available for the RP-40, but the Army wasn't
using it.  

We had an Italian gentleman who understood the equipment inside out,
but none of the Americans would listen to him.  I had been to school
with AT&T for a year, and I knew the benefits of rotary hunt.  Since I
was brought in as the "expert", I didn't have any trouble convincing a
couple of generals and a bunch of colonels of the benefits of rotary
hunt, so we went on a big campaign to install the little brass
clip-things that made it possible. In fact, I used to carry one of
them in my pocket to show them just how simple it was to install.
Actually, we improved traffic handling on the network tremendously by
reducing the number of busy tones and re-dials.  Mr. DiBernardo and I
made a great team, and many people thought we were "magic".  Actually,
we were just pretty good engineers.

We did some other neat things as well, such as instituting one-way
trunks, with overflow to two-way that increased network traffic
capacity by over 50% and didn't cost the Army (American Taxpayer) a
single dime for new equipment.  The capability was there all along,
but nobody wanted to listen to Mr. DiBernardo. We implemented circuit
"gooming" before it was a popular concept here,which also resulted
dramatic increases in traffic capacity.

Just a historical note, we still had the switch in the I.G. Farben
Building in Frankfurt that had been installed in 1937-39.  The
original switch was 400 lines of RP-40.  By the time I was there it
had grown to about 3,000 lines -- but still RP-40.

I did write a plan for a completely new digital electronic switching
system in 1974, known as the "European Telephone System Plan".  It
went into the Army budget cycle and was approved in 1975, calling for
installation of American made equipment.  I wanted it to be portable
so when we moved bases and troops around we could take it with us.
Then politics entered the game.  Mr. Rumsfeld who was the Secretary of
Defense at the time (the youngest one ever), received a hand-written
note from his counterpart in the German Ministry of Defense that said
something like: "Dear Don.  I understand that the US Army is
considering replacing their telephone system in Germany.  I just want
to remind you that Siemens is eminently qualified to undertake this
work".  Soon after that Siemens in Munich was awarded the contract --
even though they had never built a digital switch before.  Good old
Mr. DiBernardo ("Mr. Di" to his friends) provided months of "free"
consulting work to Siemens R&D in Munich guiding them through the
design process so they could build something to sell to the Army.  Of
course, the Army paid his TDY expenses from Heidelberg to Munich.  He
may have gotten some "free" lunches from Siemens.

As for multiple sequential numbers listed on signage, I think that
was/is a psychological thing -- at least in Europe.  A company that
listed only one number might be considered "small", while a company
that listed multiple numbers might be considered "large".  Of course,
they also listed fax numbers, TELEX, and anything else that might
bolster their public image.  It happens here, too, but for different
reasons.  I just randomly looked in our phone directory and the Owl
Drug Store in Wagoner, OK lists two numbers -- no way to know if they
are in rotary hunt or not.  The "Land of Oz" in Tulsa is the same way.
I suspect that there are hundreds of them here.  In the US, it
typically happens because the telephone company sales reps that handle
business lines don't have a clue about rotary hunt, and the users
don't know enough to ask.  So if a company has one number, and decides
to add another one (or more) due to business needs, nobody ever thinks
about hooking them together in a hunt group, and the directory bunch
just punches in another number.

Enough of my rambling for now.  I'm sure that this may be "too much 
information", but once I got started, it just kind of went on.

Regards.

Charles G. Gray
Senior Lecturer, Telecommunications
Oklahoma State University - Tulsa
(918)594-8433

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

Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 13:18:21 -0400
From: William Warren <william_warren_nonoise@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Urgent Help Needed With Internet Explorer IE 6.0


Bill Matern wrote:

> PAT,

> I had a similar problem before.  A good lesson was learned by my kids
> about downloading stuff from web pages.  It took me days to clean the
> mess up.

> The procedure that worked the best for me was using as many "free"
> spyware removes as possible: Spybot search and destroy and others.  I
> needed three (don't remember the other two) before I got the mess
> cleaned up.  I don't know if this will work for you or not, but it is
> worth a try.
[snip]

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The problem is now cured, and it was a
> thing about running one Spybot thing after another. I had found out
> earlier that all the facilities worked fine under a non-administrator
> account called 'ptownson', so I thought why not run the Spy Bot and
> AdAware and Grisoft AVG under that account also since all three of
> those things are at least partially dependent on IE 6.0 to run 
> correctly anyway, which they were refusing to do under the admin 
> account. By running them over and over, getting to the point of
> 'found and cured X files; could not cure Y files since they are
> locked, reboot and let (whoever) run first thing once again, while
> those files are still unlocked, etc. It took some doing, but then 
> on one test of the results, presto, things were back to normal again.
> PAT]

Pat,

You have my deepest sympathy: there's nothing more frustrating about
computers than having a child trash one just by following a link or
trying to play an online game.

Adware and spyware has gotten a lot more tenacious and intrusive since
it started, and it's an order of magnitude more difficult to remove
than a virus. After all, virus writers don't get paid (hmmm ...), and
adware vendors do, so they've gotten very good very quickly. Of
course, the ad/spyware vendors depend on children to spread their
sleezeware, but the damage and wasted time they cause is what an MBA
would call an "externality": cleanup is _your_ problem.

The good news is that there is a lot of help available and you've done
the most important thing already, which is to admit you need it.

Here's the list I use when I set up a new machine for my SOHO
customers.  HTH.

1. Copy the system partition as soon as the OS and any "office"
    software has been registered. Since new disk drives typically
    have at least 20GB of storage, it's a quick and easy precaution.
    In event of a software meltdown, I simply roll the copy back
    over the original and they're back in business twenty minutes
    later. [This is, BTW, an excellent use for the ~2GB drives you
    have hanging around in your old 486 or can get for free at
    the recycling center. You can plug the drive in for the backup,
    and then take it out and put it on a shelf out of harm's
    reach, thus guarding against both software _and_ hardware
    failures.]

2. If children will have access to the computer, take these
    precautions:

   A. Enable a power-on password to prevent late-night
      adventures.
   B. Set a password on the screen saver, and set the timeout to
      5 minutes. This keeps the kids out of _your_ account
      and helps limit damage to your data.
   C. Warn the user to NEVER use the Administrator account
      for day-to-day tasks.
   D. Install the hisecws (or hisecws4) security template,
      and use it to post a logon warning that all internet usage
      will be logged.
   E. Use a group policy to prevent users erasing their history
      files, and show the owner how to check.
   F. Install TeaTimer or similar monitoring software to flag
      attempted registry changes. Of course, the kids always
      click "yes", but there'll be a log and it'll help to
      keep the adults out of trouble as well.

3. Make sure the owner knows about backup options and the
    costs of each one: online vs. CD-RW vs. disk, etc. I make
    sure the user knows that it's a question of "When", not
    "If", especially with children involved. I emphasize the
    need for backups just before any family gathering, just
    in case.

There's another option that you should consider: set aside your old
computer for use by the kids, and warn them they if it breaks, they
get to keep both pieces and you don't want to hear any whining. I do
this with mine, and the one time it got adware on it, I told them I'd
get to it in a couple of weeks and in the meantime they could walk to
the library or stay after school and use the machines there. It's
never happened again.

I know this is locking the barn door, but (especially in your job)
it's only a matter of time before something slips past your first line
of defense. Next time, the result can be a shrug and a few minutes of
copying while you enjoy a coffee break. Sound good?

William Warren

(Filter noise from my address for direct emails)



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It does all sound like good advice. I
know that the password on my Administrator account (all my logins and
passwords actually) are on autologin. That is to say, I turn on the
computer, sit back and wait while it boots up, the 'network user name'
and 'network password' boxes are filled in automatically, all the
programs which are 'run on start up' such as the atomic clock synchronizer
the 'tclockex' program (which provides fancy script and additional
features to the Windows clock) starts, Zone Alarm and AVG get started,
etc. Sometimes also one or more virus scanning programs run as needed.
Then, and only then, do I start doing my thing. And _despite_ the
hardware firewall (cable router and modem), the Zone Alarm software
firewall, an email 'spam examination program' and other goodies, I
still get jumped on now and then. 

It appears the 'Administrator' profile got trashed by something, which
is what caused Internet Explorer to quit operating. I went in the
Documents and Settings, renamed that profile to 'Administrator.old',
then shut down, powered back up and let Windows build an all new
profile for Administrator. The 'ptownson' profile (also an
administrator account) worked okay. Now I can be on 'ptownson' or
on 'Administrator' and log off that account and switch to the other
one which I do sometimes. But for some reason I am unable to switch
to the old 'Administrator.old' account to benefit from his files,
etc. Apparently just renaming one profile to something else, to force
Windows to construct a new profile for who you want to be does not
in the process require the old user 'Administrator.old' to come to
life any longer. Ergo, things like the Outlook Express mailbox name
and address book is now unreachable. I log out of 'ptownson' or 
'administrator' and attempt to login in as 'administrator.old' (in 
order to access his files, etc) but it just won't work.   PAT]

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

From: Fred Atkinson <fatkinson@mishmash.com>
Subject: Re: FSK Signal For Voicemail on MCI 
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 05:08:31 -0400


As long as you talk to their customer service people, they won't know,
either.  That's the norm for most companies these days.

I've long since lost count of how many times customer service and even
technical support people have given me bad information.  It's really
pretty sad.

I wrote an article for the local computer club in Columbia, SC a
couple of years ago.  I entitled it, 'Customer Service, an oxymoron'.
The editor of the newsletter changed the title to 'Is Customer Service
an oxymoron' (he did it without telling me.  I would've objected to
the change if I had had an opportunity before he published it).  It
detailed some of my experiences and pointed out that these companies
are hiring entry level people to keep costs down.

The telephone, cable, and other high tech companies are hiring lost
cost people due to the state of the economy over the last few years.
A number of experienced people have been practically unable to get a
position during this time.  They are told they are 'overqualified'
when they apply.  But, the folks they hire are underqualified.  And
they don't do an adquate job of training the ones they do hire.  The
truth is, these companies don't want to pay for experience right now.

I am frequently given bad information when I talk to these folks.  And
when I point out the error of their ways, they insist they could not
possibly be wrong.  Yet, when I pursue the matter on my own, I
generally prove them to be wrong.

Sad, but true.


Fred Atkinson

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

From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi)
Subject: Re: How Long Can a Telephone Extension Cord Be?
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 12:56:47 -0000
Organization: Widgets, Inc.


In article <telecom24.369.6@telecom-digest.org>, Phil McKerracher
<phil@mckerracher.org> wrote:

> John Levine <johnl@iecc.com> wrote in message
> news:telecom24.366.5@telecom-digest.org:

>> I think the limit is about 18,000 feet.  Then you might have trouble
>> carrying DSL over it ...

> Correct, but that's the approximate limit for the total length from
> the switch to the telephone.

Strange, isn't it, that the limit for ISDN (with an extender) is over
_25,000_ ft?  <grin>

In rural areas, for POTS service, 75,000+ ft  of wire is not uncommon.

> Beyond that, the signal is typically attenuated too much, mainly by
> cable resistance, and gets buried in noise.

Circa 18,000 ft is a general practical limit for _DSL_ circuits, only.
*NOT* due to cable "resistance", by the way -- but rather due to the
cumulative effect of distributed capacitance, and the 'blurring' of
high-frequency signal transitions that occurs as a result thereof.

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

Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2005 22:05:29 -0600
From: jared@nospam.au (jared)
Subject: Re: Stock Market Ticker Tape Machines? (R


> Only within the last 20 years did the US Navy move away from
> electromechanical Teletype Model 28s and variations thereof. When I
> was the communications officer aboard the then state-of the-art fleet
> flagship USS Blue Ridge in Yokosuka in 1987

Memories of 75 baud circuits using Baudot encoding ... the wily shift
symbol ... some of the low speed circuits were for naval communication
over very noisy channels and so I think the low rate was necessary
(esp in those days before FEC and/or IP).

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

From: Steven Lichter <shlichter@diespammers.com>
Reply-To: Die@spammers.com
Organization: I Kill Spammers, Inc.  (c) 2005 A Rot in Hell Co.
Subject: Re: Stromberg Carlson Company?
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 04:10:43 GMT


hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

> Would anyone know any history of this company?  I know that they once
> made telephones, radios, and PA systems.  I understand "Comdial"
> phones are an outgrowth of them.  I presume they are long out of
> business.

> I've never seen a home audio product, but have seen commercial PA
> systems and telephone sets made by them in the 1950s.

> I get the impression they were a modest sized company in both
> telephones and audio products.  I don't recall seeing too many of
> their ads in old magazines compared to other electronic outfits.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They also made motion picture
> projectors like Bell and Howell did.   PAT]

I believe the equipment manufacturing division moved to Florida and is
part of General Dynamics.  They were really big in Rochester, Ny.
Used the old Rochester Telephone for testing.


The only good spammer is a dead one!!  Have you hunted one down today?
(c) 2005  I Kill Spammers, Inc.  A Rot in Hell Co.

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


TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm-
unications 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)

RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html
  For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308
    and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from                  *
*   Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate  *
*   800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting.         *
*   http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com                    *
*   Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing      *
*   views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc.                             *
*************************************************************************

ICB Toll Free News.  Contact information is not sold, rented or leased.

One click a day feeds a person a meal.  Go to http://www.thehungersite.com

Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved.
Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA.

              ************************

DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO
YOUR CREDIT CARD!  REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST
AND EASY411.COM   SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest !

              ************************

Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your
career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management
(MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35
credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the
skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including
data, video, and voice networks.

The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College
of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the
College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has
state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus
offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum.  Classes
are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning.

Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at
405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at
http://www.mstm.okstate.edu

              ************************

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

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.
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 #370
******************************