TELECOM Digest Tue, 17 Jan 95 23:45:16 CST Volume 15 : Issue 42 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: More CO Codes For Each NPA - Any Telcos Take Advantage? (Carl Moore) Re: Returning Blocked Local Calls to be Discontinued (Robert Schwartz) 800 Numbers/Letters Overseas (Richard Jay Solomon) Re: Where to Get Text of the ECPA? (John A. Thomas) Re: Cross Keys (Carl Moore) Re: NEC Neax 2400 (John Stewart) Business Telephone Sales Expected Salary/Commission Ranges? (Neil W. Giles) Phone Bill Has Wrong Area Code and City (Carl Moore) Help With Number Plan (Robert Smith) Re: What is a T1 Line? (Butch Lcroan) Re: Bellcore Standards Question (Wally Ritchie) Wanted: We Buy and SellL Used Telephone Systems and Parts (David Russell) Economics of the Telecommucations Industry (Victor Prochnik) Re: Is the Pentium Bug Really That Bugging? (Wally Ritchie) FCC PCS Auction Information (Darryl Kipps) Aministrivia: Sendmail Let's Me Down (TELECOM Digest Editor) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 23:03:28 GMT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: More CO Codes For Each NPA - Any Telcos Take Advantage? You mentioned 206-803. But 206 was running short of prefixes before the NNX area codes were available, and it staved off a split for a while by generalizing from NNX to NXX prefixes. As you know, the phone number shortage in 206 is to be relieved by new area code 360, which has now entered permissive mode. What Dave Leibold was asking was what I mentioned (in different words) in the area code history file: With the generalized area codes, what becomes of "no N0X/N1X prefixes unless NNX prefixes are running out"? In other words, all area codes -- not just the ones running short of NNX prefixes -- now have published dialing instructions which can also accommodate N0X/N1X prefixes. ------------------------------ From: r.schwartz18@genie.geis.com Date: Wed, 18 Jan 95 04:09:00 UTC Subject: Re: Returning Blocked Local Calls to be Discontinued in Canada > By June 30, a called party will no longer be able to do this. > In a decision handed down on December 5 [1994], the CRTC ordered Bell > to "implement the disablement of call return on blocked local calls." This is OUTRAGOUS! We finally reap the benefits of peace and tranquillity from heavy breathers thanks to technology and now the government is talking this peace away from us! What is going to deter pranksters from calling now. We have just taken a HUGE step backwards in time. Another first for the Canadian Telecommunications Industry. I think the ministers are getting fed up of walking to the pay phone to call their mistress! > While acknowledging that the CRTC's order was "not unexpected," Mike > Kassner, associate director, Consumer Market Management, said, "It > tilts the balance once again in favour of the calling party and might > cause problems with increased use of Call Trace now that the handling > of minor annoyance calls via Call Return has been taken away." Sure! Why spend $0.50 to deter a prankster when you can spend $5.00 on Call trace and have to go through the hassle of getting a court order so that the law takes action on your behalf ... for a prank call!!!! > All is not lost, however. Call Screen, said Mike, is still an > "effective device" for preventing unwanted calls from the same number. > "Call Screen can be activated to work on the last incoming number even > though the number is blocked," he noted. Sure, another $5.00 a month service charge ... will it ever end!? If anyone knows the e-mail address of the government body responsible for this fiasco, please let me know. Robert Schwartz Ottawa, Ontario. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 23:52:06 -0500 From: rjs@farnsworth.mit.edu (Richard Jay Solomon) Subject: 800 Numbers/Letters Overseas In TELECOM Digest V15 #38: > The European position imposes a lottery where there is more than one > applicant for a specific international freephone number. You can > imagine the land rush this will create among European carriers and > their customers, especially for valuable numbers such as 800 THE CARD, > 800 HOLIDAY, and 800 FLOWERS, or Home Shopping Club's well-ensconced > 800 284-3200. Before the land rush starts, American firms should take a hard look at the telephone dials overseas. Not only are the letter/number combinations not always the same as in North America, but in the U.K., the competing wireless firms don't even have the same set of letter/numbers! And some places have no letters at all, or they have non-Roman letters, as in several Mideast countries. A little due diligence goes a long way. I can remember when AT&T tried to convince us that letters were stupid -- they spent a fortune on advertising "all-number dialing," as if it made any difference. Now they are trying to tell us that letters are valuable. Reminds me of a Dr. Seuss story. Richard Solomon MIT Research Program on Communications Policy ------------------------------ From: jathomas@netcom.com (John A. Thomas) Subject: Re: Where to Get Text of the ECPA? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 20:29:26 GMT Wilson Mohr (mohr@cig.mot.com) wrote: > I have been poking around the FCC's FTP server to no avail so I will > ask: Does anyone know where/how I can get a full text of the ECPA? Try ftp to ftp.eff.org. They might have the text on-line. Or else go to a law library. The ECPA was codified in the statutes dealing with wire interception, 18 U.S.C. Sections 2510-2521, and the statutes dealing with stored electronic communications, 18 U.S.C. Sections 2701-2711. John A. Thomas jathomas@netcom.com N5RZP 214/263-4351 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Now that you mention it, I have a full copy here sent recently to me by someone, and I think I will send it out as a special mailing in the next day or three. It is quite huge, so I may have to just put it in the archives for reference. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 20:52:10 GMT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Cross Keys What is the meaning of the + in front of the 51 in the Telex line? > Coldra Woods, Chepstow Road, NEWPORT, Gwent, NP6 1JB UK > tel. 01633 413600 > Telex 497557 (from outside the UK, +51 497557) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That plus means 'dial whatever you dial to make an international call, then add what follows.' PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 09:23:19 EST From: STEWART@SALEM.WVNET.EDU Subject: Re: NEC Neax 2400 Organization: West Virginia Network My predessor was able to crash the call accounting and the Maintence terminal with-in a 4 month period prior to his release. They wanted over 8 Gs to fix the call accounting using very old and outdated equiptment. For this reason we found it more cost effective to write our own software. We do off site collection on a Vax VMS. When doing off site accounting there MUST be a short haul modem on each end or the SMDR card will be lost. They are very touchy about spikes,surges, and the like. If you need more info contact me. John Stewart (stewart@salem.wvnet.edu) Salem-Teikyo University (304) 782-5341 ------------------------------ From: nldc31@nosc.mil (Neil W. Giles) Subject: Business Telephone Sales Expected Salary/Commission Ranges? Organization: NCCOSC RDT&E Division, San Diego, CA Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 23:13:14 GMT What kind of salary and commission structures can a person entering the Business Telephone Sales industry expect? I am curious about major corporations as well as smaller VAR type reselling positions. For comparison purposes, I am primarily interested in information based on major city locations but I would be interested in hearing about the smaller areas too. Thanks, Neil Giles Neil.Giles@lasernet.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 14:49:48 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Phone Bill Has Wrong Area Code and City On the AT&T part of my phone bill, I found a call which I had made from 815-945 prefix on a pay phone at Chenoa, Illinois (along I-55 between Joliet and Bloomington). It showed up with the wrong area code (309, which happens to be next door to the Chenoa exchange) and the wrong city name (Geneseo, apparently served by 309-945). Geneseo is along U.S.6 and I-80, way out toward Rock Island. ------------------------------ From: rmsmith@csc.com (Robert Smith) Subject: Help With Number Plan Date: 14 Jan 1995 14:42:03 -0500 Organization: Computer Sciences Corporation I am documenting a dialed number plan. I am looking for advice on how to present the data to a reader. I know I can show two switches, the trunks between them, all the data under the trunks, etc. Is there another way to show this data that is easy to follow? I figure I will have to do a table and a graphic to catch the entire audience. Recommendations or experiences appreciated. Thanks, bob ------------------------------ From: balcroan@netcom.com (Butch lcroan/.nameBalcroan Lilli) Subject: Re: What is a T1 Line? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 08:28:19 GMT ARGHHH !! I am really getting tired of this BIT-Robbing conversation that Jeffery Rhodes started. I used to work with Jeffery and he certainly is a smart guy, but he is no expert in this area. I would just like to point out that for DATA it is 56k because the 8th bit is robbed every 6th frame to give line staus information so rather than deal with this on async data circuit they just ignore the eight bit completly rather than have to track the status of the transport systems framing for voice. Believe me, all modems use voice; that is to say they use the voice bandwidth to transmit a carrier (or multiple carrier at the same time in the higher speed techniques) that passes thru the network as if it were voice. Therefore the encoding scheme, not the minor bit robbing is what limits the bandwith for noise or quantizing distortiion. That is to say that since the analog waveform is quantized to a level that is represented by number (the eight bits) the problem with Jeffery's statements is that yes indeed a bit is being lost every sixth frame but this bit is the least significant bit. That is to say its weight is that of a " ONE " so an actual 254 might be encoded as a 253 ... but there is more to consider here. The " MU LAW " is not a linear scale it is more of a log function with more steps closer to the lower levels where the ear is more senstive. I really can't believe 2 DB; come on Jeff, 3 db is half power *and also the least amount the ear can detect*. I really doubt that the modems are affected by this as much as Jeffery has stated. I would more believe than something more common such as " ECHO " and several other more common impairments are really alot more important than a occasional bit robbing. There are also several new technologies such as fiber that have introduced timing impairments such as " Jitter " into the equation. I think that the newer modems are more senstive the the phase angle modulation that a SONET based " Fiber Optic " system might introduce. I advise everyone to look into the volumes of information that pours out of the ANSI T1.101 group on this very subject matter. I was on the leading edge of this matter and as such expect alot of flames from people like Jeffery who I worked with in the past. I can only say please feel free to flame but remember it wouldn't hurt to checkout T1.101. We all can learn how much of a poorly planned product SONET was and how we end users were sold a illusion with SONET and FIBER! ------------------------------ From: writchie@gate.net Subject: Re: Bellcore Standards Question Date: 18 Jan 1995 05:35:04 GMT Reply-To: writchie@gate.net In , wtm@uhura.neoucom.edu (Bill Mayhew) writes: > No more than seven zeros in a row are permitted, or an automatic on > insertion occurs to prevent the demodulator from losing lock on the > incoming bit stream. This can result of one LSB resoultion on a > maximal signal. Since low levels contain a lot of ones, there is no > loss of resolution on small signals due to forced ones. Actually, the All Zero Code word is prohibited in D4. This is done by replacing Bit 7 (Number 1 - 8 sign - lsb) with a 1 when an all zero code word would otherwise be transmitted. This is not the lsb but the second least significant bit. > Also, if you are using older D4 non ESF (extended superframe) equipment. > A bit will be robbed every 6th frame for signalling. The robbed bits > alternate between the A bit and B bit. Even with ESF, a bit will be robbed every 6th frame for channels that use Robbed Bit Signalling, i.e. other than clear channels or DDS channels. ESF extends the AB signalling to ABCD. ESF by itself does not eliminate the robbed bit signalling. What ESF does is to enable clear channel e.g. 23B+D ISDN PRI by removing the coding restriction on the all zero octet. Just picking nits to keep the record straight. Wally Ritchie Ft. Lauderdale, Florida ------------------------------ From: itelecom@bilbo.pic.net (David M. Russell) Subject: Wanted: We Buy and Sell Used Telephone Systems and Parts Date: 17 Jan 1995 19:20:24 GMT Organization: Integrity Telecommunications We buy and sell used telephone systems and parts. Please fax, smail or email your used and surplus inventories. David M. Russell Integrity Telecommunications "The Name Says IT All" 2970 Blystone Lane, Ste. 102 Dallas, TX 75220-1515 Voice 214-357-7484 Fax 214-357-7485 ------------------------------ From: victorp@omega.lncc.br (Victor Prochnik) Subject: Economics of the Telecommunications Industry Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 18:55:43 -0300 I am working on the economics of telecommunication industry. My next research will be on the demand of Brazilian large enterprises for global telecom services. I would be pleased to discuss this and other subjects. Can you share your insight with me? VICTOR PROCHNIK INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS INSTITUTE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO, BRASIL E-MAIL: VICTORP@OMEGA.LNCC.BR ------------------------------ From: writchie@gate.net Subject: Re: Is the Pentium Bug Really That Bugging? Date: 18 Jan 1995 06:05:15 GMT Reply-To: writchie@gate.net In , Anthony D'Auria writes: > Hi! My name is Anthony D'Auria and I own a P90 super loaded desktop. I > use it practically every day for the net and business. I haven't > experienced any trouble with the floating point calculations (not that > I use them). I think that IBM is making a big deal of a little thing. It's not a little thing that spreadsheets produce wrong results. IBM's concerns reflect the major concerns of its corporate clients many of whom depend on their machines for mission critical applications. Neither is it a small thing for CAD programs, Signal Processing, or any other programs that depend on heavy floating point calculations. Customers with lots of machines that use floating point are going to see real problems. For these customers the Pentium is Russian úÿ roulette with only a few chambers in the gun. If you don't use speadsheets, or CAD, or other floating point programs, no big deal. If you're a single user user with a single machine and you do use speadsheets and/or CAD programs, you too are playing russian roulette. The probabilites are small, but they are a threat if you care what your results are. > People with Pentiums start panicking, thinking that their system is > all messed up. For an average user, it doesn't seem to fearsome, but > if you have some heavy duty stuff to do, it can really do some damage. > Question: Does this floating point calculation bug affect system > performance? Is that why some Pentiums bottleneck? What and where > should a person contact to get the messed up chip replaced? Is it > actually worth it? > If you have any ideas, respond: dauriaa@voyager.bxscience.edu. I personally think that the outrage felt by users is due to three factors. First, Intel kept information of the flaw to itself for a relatively long time. Second, Intel downplayed the potential seriousness of the problem. Third, Intel has spent tens of millions of dollars on the Intel Inside ad compaign with the effect of brainwashing (like all advertising) masses of users to buy Pentium. Some of these users might have better off putting their money in faster video cards. Clearly, a flawed Pentium is much worse the alternatives. Intel must now make these people whole again. Wally Ritchie Ft. Lauderdale, Florida ------------------------------ Date: 18 Jan 95 02:01:38 EST From: Darryl Kipps <72623.456@compuserve.com> Subject: FCC PCS Auction Info Good day to all, I've just come from ftp fcc.gov to see how the PCS auctions are going and have some questions. 1. I see there are both Broad and Narrow bands. What's the difference? 2. Narrowband has both Nationwide and Regional while Broadband seems to be entirely regional (or by market) -- Why the distinction and how are the regions (markets) defined? If anyone could shed some light here would be appreciated, or just point me in the right direction if the answers are available elsewhere. Thanks, Darryl Kipps ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Administrivia: Sendmail Lets Me Down ... Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 00:15:00 CST On Tuesday some of you got two or three copies of issues 32 through 34. Others of you received only one copy. Hopefully everyone got at least one copy of each and a copy of issue 35. If you did not get one of these, let me know so it can be replaced. What happened was those three issues (32, 33, 34) had been handed over to sendmail for processing to the mailing list. All of a sudden for reasons unknown to me, this machine (delta.eecs.nwu.edu) belched and shut down for about five minutes. During that time I was locked up here unable to get any response. When I got back online, I noticed that those three issues had stopped moving, but I guessed they would restart when sendmail got around to it again. In the meantime, issue 35 was finished and sent to the mailq. Issue 35 seems to be going okay, but mailer-daemons began flooding in ... those three issues had started up again, but sendmail was quite confused. Can't find programs! (my own little group of hacks done to sendmail for use with very large mailing lists like this one so I can have as many invocations of sendmail going at one time as desired with no ill-effects or slow- downs for other users. I frequently have six or seven invocations of sendmail going at one time against my mailing list. Can't locate mailing list! I don't leave it out under its most obvious names where hackers who like to sneak in the back door with commands like VRFY and EXPD can snoop into it. Aside from the fact that I think the admin here disabled VRFY and EXPD why take chances? Part of my 'send- telecom' does 'mv bogus.name real.name' in the process of getting it out for use in mailing. Trouble is I had it out when delta went down and when it restarted obviously the mailing list(s) were not where sendmail expected to find them. So then it wrote all over the one that was out and ruined it. I had to use the backup copy it created the day before, and reinstall all the adds and deletes from the several hours prior. Unknown Host! Oh Lord, were the name servers hosed Tuesday. Were they? WERE THEY? About 80 percent of or the mailing came back due to unknown host. A few sites hung a long time before sendmail decided they had not accepted its delivery. Of course, that does not really mean the mail Timed out during did not get delivered, just that sendmail is user open with .. saying it didn't. So, a third time around and that time, the mail seemed to stick. Maybe you got those issues once, maybe you got them three times, or maybe not at all ... ... But I just about lost control when 400 -- yes, *four hundred* mailer daemons arrived all in the space of about fifteen minutes. You tell me what needs to be replaced/retransmitted between issues 31 and 42, Tuesday morning through Wednesday morning. And for those of you who wrote to tell me you got three copies of it and to stop already, all I can say is something lewd, crude and rude. But I won't say it, I'll just think it. Have a nice Wednesday! PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #42 ***************************** ÿ@FROM :telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Message-ID: <9501180713.AA19514@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> From telecom-request@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Wed Jan 18 03:27:32 1995 Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu (delta.eecs.nwu.edu [129.105.5.103]) by coyote.channel1.com (8.6.9/8.6.4) with SMTP id DAA27571; Wed, 18 Jan 1995 03:27:32 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA19521; Wed, 18 Jan 95 01:13:36 CST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA19514; Wed, 18 Jan 95 01:13:34 CST Date: Wed, 18 Jan 95 01:13:34 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9501180713.AA19514@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #42 TELECOM Digest Wed, 18 Jan 95 01:13:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 42 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: More CO Codes For Each NPA - Any Telcos Take Advantage? (Carl Moore) Re: Returning Blocked Local Calls to be Discontinued (Robert Schwartz) 800 Numbers/Letters Overseas (Richard Jay Solomon) Re: Where to Get Text of the ECPA? (John A. Thomas) Re: Cross Keys (Carl Moore) Re: NEC Neax 2400 (John Stewart) Business Telephone Sales Expected Salary/Commission Ranges? (Neil W. Giles) Phone Bill Has Wrong Area Code and City (Carl Moore) Help With Number Plan (Robert Smith) Re: What is a T1 Line? (Butch Lcroan) Re: Bellcore Standards Question (Wally Ritchie) Wanted: We Buy and SellL Used Telephone Systems and Parts (David Russell) Economics of the Telecommucations Industry (Victor Prochnik) Re: Is the Pentium Bug Really That Bugging? (Wally Ritchie) FCC PCS Auction Information (Darryl Kipps) Administrivia: Sendmail Lets Me Down (TELECOM Digest Editor) 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 America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available 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. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 23:03:28 GMT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: More CO Codes For Each NPA - Any Telcos Take Advantage? You mentioned 206-803. But 206 was running short of prefixes before the NNX area codes were available, and it staved off a split for a while by generalizing from NNX to NXX prefixes. As you know, the phone number shortage in 206 is to be relieved by new area code 360, which has now entered permissive mode. What Dave Leibold was asking was what I mentioned (in different words) in the area code history file: With the generalized area codes, what becomes of "no N0X/N1X prefixes unless NNX prefixes are running out"? In other words, all area codes -- not just the ones running short of NNX prefixes -- now have published dialing instructions which can also accommodate N0X/N1X prefixes. ------------------------------ From: r.schwartz18@genie.geis.com Date: Wed, 18 Jan 95 04:09:00 UTC Subject: Re: Returning Blocked Local Calls to be Discontinued in Canada > By June 30, a called party will no longer be able to do this. > In a decision handed down on December 5 [1994], the CRTC ordered Bell > to "implement the disablement of call return on blocked local calls." This is OUTRAGOUS! We finally reap the benefits of peace and tranquillity from heavy breathers thanks to technology and now the government is talking this peace away from us! What is going to deter pranksters from calling now. We have just taken a HUGE step backwards in time. Another first for the Canadian Telecommunications Industry. I think the ministers are getting fed up of walking to the pay phone to call their mistress! > While acknowledging that the CRTC's order was "not unexpected," Mike > Kassner, associate director, Consumer Market Management, said, "It > tilts the balance once again in favour of the calling party and might > cause problems with increased use of Call Trace now that the handling > of minor annoyance calls via Call Return has been taken away." Sure! Why spend $0.50 to deter a prankster when you can spend $5.00 on Call trace and have to go through the hassle of getting a court order so that the law takes action on your behalf ... for a prank call!!!! > All is not lost, however. Call Screen, said Mike, is still an > "effective device" for preventing unwanted calls from the same number. > "Call Screen can be activated to work on the last incoming number even > though the number is blocked," he noted. Sure, another $5.00 a month service charge ... will it ever end!? If anyone knows the e-mail address of the government body responsible for this fiasco, please let me know. Robert Schwartz Ottawa, Ontario. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 23:52:06 -0500 From: rjs@farnsworth.mit.edu (Richard Jay Solomon) Subject: 800 Numbers/Letters Overseas In TELECOM Digest V15 #38: > The European position imposes a lottery where there is more than one > applicant for a specific international freephone number. You can > imagine the land rush this will create among European carriers and > their customers, especially for valuable numbers such as 800 THE CARD, > 800 HOLIDAY, and 800 FLOWERS, or Home Shopping Club's well-ensconced > 800 284-3200. Before the land rush starts, American firms should take a hard look at the telephone dials overseas. Not only are the letter/number combinations not always the same as in North America, but in the U.K., the competing wireless firms don't even have the same set of letter/numbers! And some places have no letters at all, or they have non-Roman letters, as in several Mideast countries. A little due diligence goes a long way. I can remember when AT&T tried to convince us that letters were stupid -- they spent a fortune on advertising "all-number dialing," as if it made any difference. Now they are trying to tell us that letters are valuable. Reminds me of a Dr. Seuss story. Richard Solomon MIT Research Program on Communications Policy ------------------------------ From: jathomas@netcom.com (John A. Thomas) Subject: Re: Where to Get Text of the ECPA? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 20:29:26 GMT Wilson Mohr (mohr@cig.mot.com) wrote: > I have been poking around the FCC's FTP server to no avail so I will > ask: Does anyone know where/how I can get a full text of the ECPA? Try ftp to ftp.eff.org. They might have the text on-line. Or else go to a law library. The ECPA was codified in the statutes dealing with wire interception, 18 U.S.C. Sections 2510-2521, and the statutes dealing with stored electronic communications, 18 U.S.C. Sections 2701-2711. John A. Thomas jathomas@netcom.com N5RZP 214/263-4351 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Now that you mention it, I have a full copy here sent recently to me by someone, and I think I will send it out as a special mailing in the next day or three. It is quite huge, so I may have to just put it in the archives for reference. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 20:52:10 GMT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Cross Keys What is the meaning of the + in front of the 51 in the Telex line? > Coldra Woods, Chepstow Road, NEWPORT, Gwent, NP6 1JB UK > tel. 01633 413600 > Telex 497557 (from outside the UK, +51 497557) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That plus means 'dial whatever you dial to make an international call, then add what follows.' PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 09:23:19 EST From: STEWART@SALEM.WVNET.EDU Subject: Re: NEC Neax 2400 Organization: West Virginia Network My predessor was able to crash the call accounting and the Maintence terminal with-in a 4 month period prior to his release. They wanted over 8 Gs to fix the call accounting using very old and outdated equiptment. For this reason we found it more cost effective to write our own software. We do off site collection on a Vax VMS. When doing off site accounting there MUST be a short haul modem on each end or the SMDR card will be lost. They are very touchy about spikes,surges, and the like. If you need more info contact me. John Stewart (stewart@salem.wvnet.edu) Salem-Teikyo University (304) 782-5341 ------------------------------ From: nldc31@nosc.mil (Neil W. Giles) Subject: Business Telephone Sales Expected Salary/Commission Ranges? Organization: NCCOSC RDT&E Division, San Diego, CA Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 23:13:14 GMT What kind of salary and commission structures can a person entering the Business Telephone Sales industry expect? I am curious about major corporations as well as smaller VAR type reselling positions. For comparison purposes, I am primarily interested in information based on major city locations but I would be interested in hearing about the smaller areas too. Thanks, Neil Giles Neil.Giles@lasernet.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 14:49:48 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Phone Bill Has Wrong Area Code and City On the AT&T part of my phone bill, I found a call which I had made from 815-945 prefix on a pay phone at Chenoa, Illinois (along I-55 between Joliet and Bloomington). It showed up with the wrong area code (309, which happens to be next door to the Chenoa exchange) and the wrong city name (Geneseo, apparently served by 309-945). Geneseo is along U.S.6 and I-80, way out toward Rock Island. ------------------------------ From: rmsmith@csc.com (Robert Smith) Subject: Help With Number Plan Date: 14 Jan 1995 14:42:03 -0500 Organization: Computer Sciences Corporation I am documenting a dialed number plan. I am looking for advice on how to present the data to a reader. I know I can show two switches, the trunks between them, all the data under the trunks, etc. Is there another way to show this data that is easy to follow? I figure I will have to do a table and a graphic to catch the entire audience. Recommendations or experiences appreciated. Thanks, bob ------------------------------ From: balcroan@netcom.com (Butch lcroan/.nameBalcroan Lilli) Subject: Re: What is a T1 Line? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 08:28:19 GMT ARGHHH !! I am really getting tired of this BIT-Robbing conversation that Jeffery Rhodes started. I used to work with Jeffery and he certainly is a smart guy, but he is no expert in this area. I would just like to point out that for DATA it is 56k because the 8th bit is robbed every 6th frame to give line staus information so rather than deal with this on async data circuit they just ignore the eight bit completly rather than have to track the status of the transport systems framing for voice. Believe me, all modems use voice; that is to say they use the voice bandwidth to transmit a carrier (or multiple carrier at the same time in the higher speed techniques) that passes thru the network as if it were voice. Therefore the encoding scheme, not the minor bit robbing is what limits the bandwith for noise or quantizing distortiion. That is to say that since the analog waveform is quantized to a level that is represented by number (the eight bits) the problem with Jeffery's statements is that yes indeed a bit is being lost every sixth frame but this bit is the least significant bit. That is to say its weight is that of a " ONE " so an actual 254 might be encoded as a 253 ... but there is more to consider here. The " MU LAW " is not a linear scale it is more of a log function with more steps closer to the lower levels where the ear is more senstive. I really can't believe 2 DB; come on Jeff, 3 db is half power *and also the least amount the ear can detect*. I really doubt that the modems are affected by this as much as Jeffery has stated. I would more believe than something more common such as " ECHO " and several other more common impairments are really alot more important than a occasional bit robbing. There are also several new technologies such as fiber that have introduced timing impairments such as " Jitter " into the equation. I think that the newer modems are more senstive the the phase angle modulation that a SONET based " Fiber Optic " system might introduce. I advise everyone to look into the volumes of information that pours out of the ANSI T1.101 group on this very subject matter. I was on the leading edge of this matter and as such expect alot of flames from people like Jeffery who I worked with in the past. I can only say please feel free to flame but remember it wouldn't hurt to checkout T1.101. We all can learn how much of a poorly planned product SONET was and how we end users were sold a illusion with SONET and FIBER! ------------------------------ From: writchie@gate.net Subject: Re: Bellcore Standards Question Date: 18 Jan 1995 05:35:04 GMT Reply-To: writchie@gate.net In , wtm@uhura.neoucom.edu (Bill Mayhew) writes: > No more than seven zeros in a row are permitted, or an automatic on > insertion occurs to prevent the demodulator from losing lock on the > incoming bit stream. This can result of one LSB resoultion on a > maximal signal. Since low levels contain a lot of ones, there is no > loss of resolution on small signals due to forced ones. Actually, the All Zero Code word is prohibited in D4. This is done by replacing Bit 7 (Number 1 - 8 sign - lsb) with a 1 when an all zero code word would otherwise be transmitted. This is not the lsb but the second least significant bit. > Also, if you are using older D4 non ESF (extended superframe) equipment. > A bit will be robbed every 6th frame for signalling. The robbed bits > alternate between the A bit and B bit. Even with ESF, a bit will be robbed every 6th frame for channels that use Robbed Bit Signalling, i.e. other than clear channels or DDS channels. ESF extends the AB signalling to ABCD. ESF by itself does not eliminate the robbed bit signalling. What ESF does is to enable clear channel e.g. 23B+D ISDN PRI by removing the coding restriction on the all zero octet. Just picking nits to keep the record straight. Wally Ritchie Ft. Lauderdale, Florida ------------------------------ From: itelecom@bilbo.pic.net (David M. Russell) Subject: Wanted: We Buy and Sell Used Telephone Systems and Parts Date: 17 Jan 1995 19:20:24 GMT Organization: Integrity Telecommunications We buy and sell used telephone systems and parts. Please fax, smail or email your used and surplus inventories. David M. Russell Integrity Telecommunications "The Name Says IT All" 2970 Blystone Lane, Ste. 102 Dallas, TX 75220-1515 Voice 214-357-7484 Fax 214-357-7485 úÿ ------------------------------ From: victorp@omega.lncc.br (Victor Prochnik) Subject: Economics of the Telecommunications Industry Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 18:55:43 -0300 I am working on the economics of telecommunication industry. My next research will be on the demand of Brazilian large enterprises for global telecom services. I would be pleased to discuss this and other subjects. Can you share your insight with me? VICTOR PROCHNIK INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS INSTITUTE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO, BRASIL E-MAIL: VICTORP@OMEGA.LNCC.BR ------------------------------ From: writchie@gate.net Subject: Re: Is the Pentium Bug Really That Bugging? Date: 18 Jan 1995 06:05:15 GMT Reply-To: writchie@gate.net In , Anthony D'Auria writes: > Hi! My name is Anthony D'Auria and I own a P90 super loaded desktop. I > use it practically every day for the net and business. I haven't > experienced any trouble with the floating point calculations (not that > I use them). I think that IBM is making a big deal of a little thing. It's not a little thing that spreadsheets produce wrong results. IBM's concerns reflect the major concerns of its corporate clients many of whom depend on their machines for mission critical applications. Neither is it a small thing for CAD programs, Signal Processing, or any other programs that depend on heavy floating point calculations. Customers with lots of machines that use floating point are going to see real problems. For these customers the Pentium is Russian roulette with only a few chambers in the gun. If you don't use speadsheets, or CAD, or other floating point programs, no big deal. If you're a single user user with a single machine and you do use speadsheets and/or CAD programs, you too are playing russian roulette. The probabilites are small, but they are a threat if you care what your results are. > People with Pentiums start panicking, thinking that their system is > all messed up. For an average user, it doesn't seem to fearsome, but > if you have some heavy duty stuff to do, it can really do some damage. > Question: Does this floating point calculation bug affect system > performance? Is that why some Pentiums bottleneck? What and where > should a person contact to get the messed up chip replaced? Is it > actually worth it? > If you have any ideas, respond: dauriaa@voyager.bxscience.edu. I personally think that the outrage felt by users is due to three factors. First, Intel kept information of the flaw to itself for a relatively long time. Second, Intel downplayed the potential seriousness of the problem. Third, Intel has spent tens of millions of dollars on the Intel Inside ad compaign with the effect of brainwashing (like all advertising) masses of users to buy Pentium. Some of these users might have better off putting their money in faster video cards. Clearly, a flawed Pentium is much worse the alternatives. Intel must now make these people whole again. Wally Ritchie Ft. Lauderdale, Florida ------------------------------ Date: 18 Jan 95 02:01:38 EST From: Darryl Kipps <72623.456@compuserve.com> Subject: FCC PCS Auction Info Good day to all, I've just come from ftp fcc.gov to see how the PCS auctions are going and have some questions. 1. I see there are both Broad and Narrow bands. What's the difference? 2. Narrowband has both Nationwide and Regional while Broadband seems to be entirely regional (or by market) -- Why the distinction and how are the regions (markets) defined? If anyone could shed some light here would be appreciated, or just point me in the right direction if the answers are available elsewhere. Thanks, Darryl Kipps ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Administrivia: Sendmail Lets Me Down ... Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 00:15:00 CST On Tuesday some of you got two or three copies of issues 32 through 34. Others of you received only one copy. Hopefully everyone got at least one copy of each and a copy of issue 35. If you did not get one of these, let me know so it can be replaced. What happened was those three issues (32, 33, 34) had been handed over to sendmail for processing to the mailing list. All of a sudden for reasons unknown to me, this machine (delta.eecs.nwu.edu) belched and shut down for about five minutes. During that time I was locked up here unable to get any response. When I got back online, I noticed that those three issues had stopped moving, but I guessed they would restart when sendmail got around to it again. In the meantime, issue 35 was finished and sent to the mailq. Issue 35 seems to be going okay, but mailer-daemons began flooding in ... those three issues had started up again, but sendmail was quite confused. Can't find programs! (my own little group of hacks done to sendmail for use with very large mailing lists like this one so I can have as many invocations of sendmail going at one time as desired with no ill-effects or slow- downs for other users. I frequently have six or seven invocations of sendmail going at one time against my mailing list. Can't locate mailing list! I don't leave it out under its most obvious names where hackers who like to sneak in the back door with commands like VRFY and EXPD can snoop into it. Aside from the fact that I think the admin here disabled VRFY and EXPD why take chances? Part of my 'send- telecom' does 'mv bogus.name real.name' in the process of getting it out for use in mailing. Trouble is I had it out when delta went down and when it restarted obviously the mailing list(s) were not where sendmail expected to find them. So then it wrote all over the one that was out and ruined it. I had to use the backup copy it created the day before, and reinstall all the adds and deletes from the several hours prior. Unknown Host! Oh Lord, were the name servers hosed Tuesday. Were they? WERE THEY? About 80 percent of or the mailing came back due to unknown host. A few sites hung a long time before sendmail decided they had not accepted its delivery. Of course, that does not really mean the mail Timed out during did not get delivered, just that sendmail is user open with .. saying it didn't. So, a third time around and that time, the mail seemed to stick. Maybe you got those issues once, maybe you got them three times, or maybe not at all ... ... But I just about lost control when 400 -- yes, *four hundred* mailer daemons arrived all in the space of about fifteen minutes. You tell me what needs to be replaced/retransmitted between issues 31 and 42, Tuesday morning through Wednesday morning. And for those of you who wrote to tell me you got three copies of it and to stop already, all I can say is something lewd, crude and rude. But I won't say it, I'll just think it. Have a nice Wednesday! PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #42 *****************************