TELECOM Digest Wed, 27 Apr 94 13:15:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 185 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Looking For Information on BNC, Inc. (jrcrum@bb1t.monsanto.com) Customer <-> Local Phone Company Contact Point (Jonathan Liu) Proprietary Rights and Pirate Psychology (A. Padgett Peterson) Voice Recognition With Octel Systems (Eric A. Litman) BT Redirection Message (Tony Harminc) Telecom Inventory Management (Mark Kelly) Multi-Line Office Phone System - How to Connect Modem? (Misha Glouberman) Help! Need 800 Number/WATS History (Dwight Phili Victor) Intelligent Network Architecture (INA) (Brian Anzaldua) Answering Machines: What Use? (Daniel Joha) Responses to Voltage Drop Query (Dick O'Connor) E1 Help Wanted (Jack W. Lix) FYI: CommerceNet Press Release (William Tao-Yang Wong) Alfred Hitchcock Episode - Bomb Scare (Carl Moore) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, 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. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jrcrum@bb1t.monsanto.com Subject: Looking For Information on BNC, Inc. Organization: Monsanto Company, St. Louis, MO Date: Tue, 26 Apr 1994 21:39:10 GMT I'm trying to find some information on a company called Business Network Communications, Inc. (BNC). They are supposedly a long-distance wholesaler, reselling AT&T services. A friend of mine is considering investing in this company, and asked me to post this to see if anyone may be familiar with them. If anyone has any direct experience with this company (or one like it), we would appreciate any information. I also have another question. This company claims that due to some FCC rulings, AT&T is required to make discount packages like the ones they give large companies available to resellers. The resellers can then make money selling AT&T long-distance service to other companies or individuals. Is this for real? Joe Crum | 577-6476@mcimail.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed 27 Apr 1994 01:51:32 -0400 From: Jonathan Subject: Customer <-> Local Phone Company Contact Point I would like to suggest that after local telephone service competition is under way, somebody should create a special point of contact between all customers and all local telephone companies. This entity would represent customers, all local telephone companies or the government. It could either be a separate government agency in each state or it could be a single industry-wide organization. This agency would have multiple functions. First, it would control the assignment of area codes, prefixes and telephone numbers; it would maintain a database of what company handles whose services. Second, it would verify any service orders when somebody is trying to change local telephone service from one company to another. Third, it would handle reports of trouble on calls, localize them to one company's network, and then refer it to that company. Fourth, it may provide some operator services or billing functions. Fifth, it would set business, ethical and technical standards for the industry. I am sure that there are other functions for it too. The point is that this agency should either represent no telephone companies and be either customer- or government-controlled, or it should represent each and every local phone company in the nation. It could be organized with a two-house board of directors: one with one director from every LEC and one apportioned to which LEC has the most customers. What do people think? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Wouldn't this be redundant since we already have both the Federal Communications Commission and a state agency in every state at present? In addition there are already many consumer organizations which devote their attention to utility matters. Why add still another layer to the whole thing? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Apr 94 11:58:44 -0400 From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) Subject: Proprietary Rights and Pirate Psychology Originator's name unimportant > I've been told by a usually reliable source that the full confidential, > proprietary details of the Videocrypt video scrambling system are being > released this week on some international bulletin boards. Am not a lawyer so may be ignorant and would appreciate education if wrong. My understanding is that there is no legal meaning to the word "proprietary" other than a contractual (civil) obligation that may be required for access to data. This contract does not exist between any other parties who may gain access (note: am not addressing *how* access was gained, merely that it was). Further "confidential" in the civil as opposed to the military sense is similar: actionable only on those people who have contractually agreed that it is. As such, merely marking "proprietary" or "confidential" on a document does not automatically induce any obligation on the part of any individual who has not entered into a "proprietary rights agreement" beyond the test of "common sense". There is no consideration and there is no contract between any party who happens on it due to a lack of proper protection on the part of the originator. (Again not talking about any improper acts, merely the fact that no-one who has not signed a PRA is under any obligation to keep information secret merely because it is considered "proprietary" by another). Please correct if wrong but if so, please be explicit about under what juristiction. (sovereign can do *anything* but only in area of sovereignty). > If all the above is true, I'm interested in knowing what the pirates > stand to gain from releasing the information on bulletin boards. > Surely, it is more profitable to keep the information to yourself, and > have something to sell. Or is this a move to force Videocrypt's hand > in some way? Some people claim that "information should be free", others feel that by sharing what they have others will share what they have. Yet another might be involved in a competing system and feel that its market share will improve if VideoCrypt's secrets are known. Too many possibilities to list. Why are there computer viruses ? Warmly, Padgett ------------------------------ From: elitman@proxima.com (Eric A. Litman) Subject: Voice Recognition With Octel Systems Date: 26 Apr 1994 13:50:33 -0500 Organization: Proxima, Inc. I have a client with (n:n>100) Octel systems who would like to develop polling/survey applications with Octel's TransAct software option. I am looking for any way to incorporate speech recognition technology into this system. As I understand, AT&T has recently started a marketing blitz with a new speech recognition package they are offering. Can this interface with the Octel systems? Does anyone have any more information on this in gereral? Any information appreciated. Eric Litman Proxima, Inc. vox: (703) 506.1661 Senior Systems Engineer McLean, VA elitman+@proxima.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Apr 94 04:41:30 EDT From: Tony Harminc Subject: BT Redirection Message The 26 March 94 issue of {New Scientist} mentions an example of BT ineptitude. The London number +44 81 975 9759 has been changed to +44 81 242 3000. If you dial the old number, BT's automated system will tell you the new number, in UK-internal format (081 242-3000). "But whereas BT's numbering system groups digits logically into an area code followed by the number, BT's electronic stitcher works in a completely different way." The new number is read as 0812 423 0 00, with the last group read as "double oh". (The number is that of the UK Press Gazette.) Tony Harminc ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Apr 1994 05:06:23 EDT From: Mark Kelly Subject: Telecom Inventory Management Thanks to everyone that responded to my request for information about STU III phones. I'll post a summary soon. But who knows anything about Telecom inventory management? In particular, what options are available for management of telecom assets and circuits? It would seem to me that given the large number of service providers and telcos in North America there must be off-the-shelf software that provides inventory management functionality. I know that in Canada most of the large telcos (Stentor) have their own internal systems for managing their assets. Is this because everyone does it differently or because this software isn't available and has to be custom designed. Any comments or assistance would be appreciated. I will post a summary back to this Digest. Thanks, Mark Kelly Advanced Multi-Point Conferencing Email: mkelly@resudox.net 320 March Road, Suite 102 Phone: 613-592-5752 Kanata, Ontario, Canada K2K 2E3 ------------------------------ From: misha@abacus.concordia.ca (Misha Glouberman) Subject: Multi-Line Office Phone System - How to Connect Modem? Reply-To: misha@abacus.concordia.ca Organization: Concordia University, Montreal, Canada Date: Tue, 26 Apr 1994 22:19:15 GMT I'm trying to hook up a modem in a friend's office. They have those typical office phones that require you to pick a line to get a dial tone. This is a real drag for the modem setup of course. Anyone know of a way to hook up a modem in such a situation? (The system's a Trillium TalkTo 616, if that helps.) It's a small office they've got, and phone lines for businesses are real expensive here in Canada. AT&T, who bought out the company that made the system, want an absurd amount of money to connect a POTS jack onto the existing system. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Misha Glouberman misha@abacus.concordia.ca ------------------------------ From: dwightv@hawaii.edu (Dwight Phili Victor) Subject: Help! Need 800 Number/WATS History Organization: University of Hawaii Date: Wed, 27 Apr 1994 03:12:05 GMT Howzit! I'm a student at the University of Hawaii and I'm doing a report for my communications class on 800 Numbers/WATS. I need some info/history as soon as possible. I'm looking for when and why this service began. If you have any information, could you please e-mail me at: dwightv@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu Mahalo in advance, Dwight Victor University of Hawaii College of Communications [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This was received during the time I was off line a couple weeks ago and Mr. Victor needed his information about a week ago unfortunatly ... but it seemed like an interesting question to present here. WATS service began in the late 1950's with the advent of direct long distance dialing. In-WATS (or 800 service, as it is more commonly known) began *under that name with direct dialing* in the middle to late 1960's; however the predecessor to 800 service was called 'Enterprise Service' in some areas and 'Zenith Service' in other areas. Companies which agreed to accept incoming collect or reverse charge calls on an automatic basis -- without the operator asking their permission to place the charge each time -- were assigned a four digit number with the prefix 'Enterprise' or 'Zenith', ie Enterprise 5781, which was my toll-free number in those days. Callers dialed the operator and asked for connection to the desired Enterprise number. Dial-it-yourself 800 numbers largely made Enterprise service obsolete by the late 1970's. PAT] ------------------------------ From: briana@corp.hp.com (Brian Anzaldua) Subject: Intelligent Network Architecture (INA) Date: 26 Apr 1994 20:11:12 GMT Organization: Hewlett Packard Does anybody know where I can get a copy of a white paper on INA? briana@hpccoa.corp.hp.com ------------------------------ From: johaciie@w206zrz.zrz.TU-Berlin.DE (Daniel Joha) Subject: Answering Machines: What Use? Date: 26 Apr 1994 22:05:11 GMT Organization: TUBerlin/ZRZ Short Discussion on ANSWERING MACHINES, comments are welcome! - Answering machines save time since they allow asynchronous communication. - Answering machines are impersonal. I don't like to talk to machines! - With answering machines one can answer calls in a "bulk" and is therefore less disturbed while working. - Many callers hesitate talking on to the tape. - While absent, it is possible to obtain messages. This can be important if upon one's return the caller himself is absent. - Callers never know whether the called party is absent or just happily listens to them. - Call screening is possible: only calls that are welcome are answered. - An answering machine causes additional costs: electricity and phone charges. Which positive and negative experiences have you had with answering machines? What is the major benefit of answering machines? Daniel Joha johaciie@w206zrz.zrz.TU-Berlin.de [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Answering machines came on the scene in the middle 1960's. They were simply an automated form of the old telephone answering services which had been around since the beginning of the telephone itself. By the early 1970's answering machines were beginning to become quite popular and the telephone answering services were beginning to feel a pinch in their business. The term 'voicemail' was unheard of back then. PAT] ------------------------------ From: djo7613@u.washington.edu (Dick O'Connor) Subject: Responses to Voltage Drop Query Date: 27 Apr 1994 09:57:52 GMT Organization: University of Washington Recently I asked a question about residential phone line voltage drops (if they were possible, could they be what was suddenly affecting the devices I put on that line, etc.). I got some very useful responses that I'm summarizing below. On the second day of troubleshooting, with two US West folks involved at our house, they found a circuit board in one of the two boxes on the side of the house ("their" box, not "mine") that was testing flaky. They replaced it, and voltage returned to normal; all devices ring or pick up now, as before. Happy ending! Responses follow: Date: Sun, 17 Apr 94 09:38:51 PDT From: Jay Hennigan Ringing is a low-frequency AC signal applied to the line (Typically 90 volts at 20 Hertz). Tell the repair desk that "ringing voltage is not being applied". They will likely find the problem to be the line equipment (printed circuit card in modern exchanges) feeding your line. Date: Sun, 17 Apr 1994 14:27:44 -0800 From: jbaker@halcyon.com (James Baker) Yep, the ring voltage falls during peak calling times, when lots of ringers are ringing simultaneously. Most cards have a sensitivity setting. Bigmouth for example has rsens = XX or some such thing in setup software. (I had the same problem with PCX software and bigmouth card on US West line in Seattle). Good luck! From: Floyd Davidson Date: Sun, 17 Apr 1994 14:17:19 -0800 You gave a very apt description! And to take it one step farther... if your water pipe isn't leaking, but it has low pressure... you look at the pump? Yep. The line card which supplies ring voltage appears to be bad. If it were anything else it probably would affect your ability to talk over the phone or it would abort the ringing on the first or second ring. The explanation for that is probably longer and windier than you want to sit through ... so I won't unless you ask. One thing that is obvious is the fellow who took two hours to figure out it wasn't you house wiring is not very good at what he does... That should have taken about 15 minutes, most of which would be just finding the demarc point and opening the box. After that it should take about 15 seconds. And that is what he should have done to start with. Whatever ... the "line card" could be in a remote-switching unit, it could be in the telco switch if you are close enough to it physically, or if you are on any kind of cable carrier it might be in the nearest junction box to your house. It is where the ring voltage comes from. Note that what you hear when calling a phone is NOT the "ringing" that rings the phone. There is no talk path at that time and the "ringback" is sent toward the calling line just to let them know it is working. It is usually not sent at the same time the ring voltage is being sent. Have a good day, Floyd Date: Sun, 17 Apr 94 22:45:02 EDT From: Michael Jacobs Hi There! I am a technician for Bell Atlantic in Pennsylvania. It sounds to me like your problem is in one of two areas: 1- Insufficient ringing current on the line or 2- Ring-trip insulation breakdown fault. The first problem is usually caused by too many sets on a line. There is a limit (usually 5 or 6) as to the number of sets that can be on a line and still have the ringers work properly (each takes a certain amount of the limited power that can be supplied over the line). Otherwise, a fault in the telco's central office or loop carrier equipment may be present. Ringing voltage should be greater than 90 Vrms AC. Your telco technician should be able to make this measurement. The second problem is usually related to a resistive fault somewhere in the line. It is most easy for the technician to find this problem by first ensuring that there are no obvious faults on the line by using loop testing equipment or an ohmmeter. If the line tests ok, I then usually monitor the line with my butt-set (the phone-like thing hanging from the tech's belt) and have someone call the line. I can immediately hear whether ringing current has been applied to the line, and whether it was abruptly terminated by a ring-trip condition. This means that there is a fault in the line which presents a high-resistance condition at DC (where most line test equipment operates) but which becomes a low-resistance fault at 60 Hz (ringing signal). Since you acknowledge a ringing telephone by lifting it off the hook (closing a switch to lower the line resistance), this fault is spoofing the central office into thinking the line has been answered, thus it stops applying the ringing signal. An experienced technician should be able to troubleshoot this condition rather quickly. Other, more obscure problems could relate to custom-calling features (like call-forwarding) being inadvertantly activated on the line, or even having a different number accidently sent out over your line due to a telco splicing error. Hopefully, your telco (USWest?) will get this straightened out. Other action you can take would be to plug into the network interface jack for that line (if telco installed one) and checking for normal operation. Normal operation indicates a fault in the wiring on your premises. Problem operation at the NI indicates either telco trouble or a bad set being used to test. Let me know if I can be of more assistance, or if telco finds anything interesting. Date: Mon, 18 Apr 1994 10:28:46 -0700 From: richgr@netcom.com (Rich Greenberg) My best guess as to what happened is that somewhere between your demark and the CO, there is a partial short. Another possibility is that somebody's phone line was connected across yours. If you have too many ringers on one line, some or all won't ring. In any case its probably telco's problem. Keep on them till its fixed. Ask them to give you another pair from the CO to you. -------------- Thanks to all who responded! "Moby" Dick O'Connor djo7613@u.washington.edu Wash. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife *Remember: the fish were here first!* ------------------------------ From: jwl@netcom.com (Jack W. Lix) Subject: E1 Help Wanted Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Wed, 27 Apr 1994 09:59:19 GMT I need some information about "real world" E1 usage. Does timeslot 16 (normally used for signalling) ever get used for data in point to point usage. I also understand some satellite transceivers use an E1 interface. Would they also reserve timeslot 16?? If so, whats the point?? Thank you for your help. Jack W. Lix jwl@netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Apr 94 14:28:55 GMT From: wtwong@eit.COM (William Tao-Yang Wong) Subject: FYI: CommerceNet Press Release For press information, contact: Lisa Croel Edelman Technology Communications Phone: (415) 968-4033 Fax: (415) 968-2201 MCI Mail: 629-8643 or Lisa_Croel@mcimail.com CommerceNet Makes Electronic Commerce over the Internet a Reality in Silicon Valley New Infrastructure for Electronic Commerce on the Internet Enables Companies to Streamline Procurement, Cut Costs, Shrink Development Cycles and Communicate More Effectively SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 12, 1994 PP -- CommerceNet, the first large-scale market trial of electronic commerce on the Internet, will be formally launched today by BARRNet, Enterprise Integration Technologies (EIT), and Stanford University's Center for Information Technology (CIT) at an event here at the Techmart. The event will include the first public demonstration of CommerceNet, which goes "live" on the Internet today, offering Silicon Valley-based companies access to services and applications that make the Internet suitable for electronic commerce. Many of the companies who have indicated an interest in participating in the CommerceNet market trial will be on hand at today's event to show their support and to discuss the potential impact of CommerceNet on the way they transact business (see page 6). In addition, representatives from sponsoring organizations including Smart Valley, Inc., Joint Venture:Silicon Valley Network and the State of California Trade and Commerce Agency were present to discuss the potential economic impact of CommerceNet on the local economy and on business. CommerceNet was created and is operated by a consortium of major Silicon Valley users, providers and developers. It seeks to revolutionize the Valley's core electronics, software and information service industries by making interactions between customers, suppliers and development partners as efficient as interactions among internal departments. CommerceNet will ultimately help to revolutionize the way most Bay Area companies transact business, regardless of their size or business focus. CommerceNet's founders and supporters believe that the new electronic marketplace will benefit participating companies by: Shortening procurement cycles up to 80% through online catalogs, ordering and payment; cutting costs up to 10% on both stock and manufactured parts through competitive bidding; and shrinking development cycles up to 50% and accelerating time-to-market through collaborative engineering and product implementation. "The Internet is a vast, untapped marketplace," said Jay M. Tenenbaum, Chairman and founder of EIT and the visionary behind CommerceNet. "With over 20 million users, the Internet is the biggest and most immediate venue for electronic commerce. CommerceNet provides the tools that will make the Internet secure and easy to use, 'unleashing' its potential to transform how business is done." An outgrowth of ARPA-sponsored research begun in the 1960's, the Internet was originally used by colleges, universities and the government for research and development purposes. It has since evolved to become "the network of networks," interconnecting not just government and education, but a huge portion of the commercial business sector as well. Today, the Internet links over 20,000 public and private networks encompassing over 20 million users in nearly 140 countries, and it is growing ten percent a month. Several factors have kept the Internet from facilitating electronic commerce until now. They include: The lack of standard and easy-to-use interfaces; the lack of a secure means for transmitting sensitive data or identifying users; and the lack of indexing and search mechanisms that make it easy for users to find information. "We evaluated all of the barriers to electronic commerce on the Internet and then came up with what we believe are excellent solutions that break down most of these barriers," said Allan M. Schiffman, Chief Technical Officer of EIT and Principal Architect of CommerceNet. "CommerceNet will win over many skeptics who thought electronic commerce either wasn't possible over the Internet, or was years away from becoming a reality." Specifically, CommerceNet provides an integrated set of services from a single source, including: % Affordable, high quality Internet connectivity using a variety of connectivity options including T1, 56K, Frame Relay and ISDN. Many are available immediately; others will be rolled out during the remainder of 1994. % Easy access to user interface and networking software and registration forms for CommerceNet access. % Software tools for providers that make it easy to put up interactive CommerceNet services on any Internet host. % Simple point-and-click access to all CommerceNet services using an enhanced version of Mosaic, a popular hypermedia user interface from the NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications). Mosaic supports full multimedia presentations, including audio, video, text and graphics, as well as electronic forms. % A variety of specialized directories to help users locate information and services on CommerceNet. These directories, as with other CommerceNet services, can be browsed or searched for keywords using Mosaic. % Security mechanisms, including authentication and encryption, supported within applications, including Mosaic, using RSA public key cryptography. Public-key certification services will also be provided to CommerceNet members. Buyers and sellers will be able to meet on the network and safely exchange sensitive information such as credit card numbers and bid amounts, sign legally enforceable contracts, maintain audit trails, and get paid through cooperating financial institutions. Data and transmission security issues are minimized on CommerceNet because there are no remote logins and private information such as passwords is transmitted under encryption. Digital signatures ensure that important information is delivered uncorrupted and untampered. Secure client and server products will be available for beta testing in May of this year; widespread release will follow in August. Participating companies are expected to use CommerceNet to provide customers with online catalogs, product literature, and ordering. Job shops will provide online access to engineering and manufacturing services that are faster, cheaper, or better than those available in-house. Companies will also use CommerceNet for competitive solicitations and bidding, interactive EDI, and inter-company collaborative engineering and product data exchange. The Commerce.Net Server The CommerceNet server, which acts as the hub of CommerceNet, provides users access to all CommerceNet-related information and applications via the World Wide Web, a general purpose architecture for information retrieval developed by groups of Internet users. Information about CommerceNet is also available via electronic mail. The CommerceNet server hosts: Information on the CommerceNet organization; directories of participants, value-added third-party services and Internet resources; member registration and communications; and tutorials and examples. The server is also a principal distribution channel for CommerceNet software. Like the Internet, CommerceNet is open to all. Any individual or organization can offer information, goods and services by creating a multimedia "home page" on their own server and listing it in appropriate directories on the CommerceNet server, as well as with value-added directories and referral services operated by third parties. These home pages serve as "virtual storefronts," providing brief company overviews and paths for accessing their product literature, catalogs, order forms, etc. CommerceNet is thus a fully distributed network of information service providers whose growth is essentially unbounded. The CommerceNet server is merely a convenient starting point for entering this marketplace. The CommerceNet Consortium CommerceNet is operated by the CommerceNet Consortium, a non-profit corporation funded by a six million dollar, three year grant from the United States government's Technology Reinvestment Project, which will be matched by contributions from the State of California and member companies. The Consortium consists of the core development team members, sponsoring organizations, and industry participants. The core team is comprised of BARRNet, EIT and Stanford CIT. They have been responsible for developing and operating CommerceNet and securing its funding, and will oversee the day-to-day management of CommerceNet, led by the organization's new executive director, Cathy J. Medich. The sponsoring organizations PP Smart Valley, Inc., Joint Venture:Silicon Valley Network, and the State of California Office of Strategic Technology PP were instrumental in raising CommerceNet's visibility with the State and Federal Government. They continue to support the efforts of CommerceNet and other initiatives that improve the competitive and business environment in Northern California. The following industry participants, in alphabetical order, have indicated their interest in CommerceNet: Amdahl Corporation, Anthem Electronics, Inc., Apple Computer, Inc., AVEX Electronics Inc., Bank of America, Citibank N.A., Dataquest, Digital Equipment Corporation, Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, Electronic Marketplace Systems, Inc. (An International Data Group Company), Hewlett-Packard Company, Integrated Systems Solutions Corporation (A Subsidiary of IBM), Intel Corporation, Internet Shopping Network, InterNex Information Services, Inc., Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc., Nanothinc, A California Corporation, National Semiconductor, Network Computing Devices, Inc. (NCD), Pacific Bell, PartNet, Inc., RSA Data Security, Inc., Solectron Corporation, Sun Microsystems, Inc., Synopsys Inc., Tandem Computers Incorporated, Trusted Information Systems, Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Xerox Corporation. Other affiliated organizations that are participating in CommerceNet include: the Association of Bay Area Governments, the California Department of General Services, the Commercial Internet eXchange Association, the Financial Services Technology Consortium (FSTC), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Silicon Valley Public Access Link (SV-PAL). Information on how to participate in CommerceNet can be obtained by calling (415) 617-8790, by sending e-mail to info@commerce.net, and by connecting to http://www.commerce.net/. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Apr 94 17:42:25 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Alfred Hitchcock Episode - Bomb Scare An Alfred Hitchcock episode I just saw has a reference to a bomb scare; the persons and events depicted are FICTICIOUS, and resemblance to actual persons and events is coincidental. The episode seems to date from the early 1960s. In it, a man retires from a job with a firm, and makes off with a big stash of money (from that firm) which he carts off in a briefcase to his home, where his wife is. He then steals away from there with the briefcase, and intends to fly off to Hawaii with another woman. He insists on taking the briefcase with him onto the plane, and has some problems storing it when in the passenger compartment. Then there are apparent mechanical difficulties with the plane and all passengers have to get off. He impatiently inquires what the problem is, how long the delay, etc., and finally learns that there was a bomb scare and that luggage will have to be searched. He and that other woman are then approached by plainclothesmen who say "Police. We need to ask you some questions." Then the wife (already aware of the theft of the money from the firm) is seen slipping into a phone booth and saying on the phone that the bomb scare was a joke. At the end of the episode, Mr. Hitchcock notes that the man had the last laugh in this (FICTITIOUS) case, because the wife was prosecuted for the bomb scare. (The offense is conveying information about a bomb while knowing that the information is false.) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ah yes, the bomb scares of the sixties. I guess kids in school still call them in anonymously on the phone now and then when they want an afternoon off. During the Vietnam era when there were constant protests against the government and large corporations I was working for the Amoco/Diners Club credit card billing office when it was located here in Chicago. We shared a building on Canal Street with Social Security. Social Security had about a thousand employees in the building using three floors; the Diners processing office had about two thousand employees using four floors. First nice warm day every spring you could count on it: Some disgruntled employee would make an anonymous call to the Amoco/Diners switchboard to report 'a bomb is gonna go off, better get out of there!'. Or maybe they would call upstairs to the Social Security switchboard and report it there. Either office which got it would report it to the police and the other office. The inevitable announcement on the public address system that, 'it is necessary to leave the building at this time ...' would cause the chickens who were roosting at their desks after lunch to wake up. Thousands of employees streaming down the stairway out to Canal Street, standing around until the all clear signal was given to return to the office; but always there were a few who did not bother to return for the day, especially if the 'bomb' was called in perhaps an hour before closing time. I think it was mostly the government employees at the SSA who caused the disruptions. That particular SSA back-office was the pits as I recall in terms of the employees they had there, although the credit card back-office was just as bad. Do schools/companies still get bomb scares on nice spring afternoons? Is the Pope Catholic? :) PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #185 ****************************** -------------------------------------------------------------------------------