Hacker Chronicles 2 (Alt)/The_Hacker_Chronicles_Volume_II-CD2.iso/td/td13_832.txt

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TELECOM Digest     Tue, 21 Dec 93 04:54:00 CST    Volume 13 : Issue 832

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Administrivia: The Digest and Usenet (TELECOM Digest Editor)
    Voicemail on the PC (Chris Nelson)
    How Are Telephone Calling Cards Verified (Brian Bulkowski)
    Privacy and Caller ID/Auto Callback? (Erik Berg)
    GTE Files Request re Cerritos Cable Television (Steven H. Lichter)
    Frequency Database VIRUS (Alfredo E. Cotroneo)
    New Patents Information Wanted (Mark Voorhees)
    T1 MUX Recommendations Wanted (Ray Wong)
    WDC on Orange Card Bill (Carl Moore)
    Re: Cable Channels (and Satellites) (Lars Poulsen)
    Cellphones With RJ-11 Connectors (Paul N. Hrisko)
    Re: TDD Software Wanted ([e-mail])
    Re: International Calls via Cable or Satellite (Carl Moore)
    Technical Analysis: Santa Claus Science and Myth (Dan L. Dale)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 03:56:05 -0600
From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Administrivia: The Digest and Usenet


On December 8, as a result of the long and often bitter conversations
in the Usenet news.groups forum regards comp.dcom.telecom.tech, the
comp.dcom.telecom newsgroup and this Digest, distribution of TELECOM
Digest to Usenet and the comp.dcom.telecom newsgroup was suspended.
This was something that did not happen without a lot of thought as to
the ramifications of the decision, and although I said at the time it
would be permantently removed, I had not realized the large number of
readers who would object to that decision.

A few days ago, after receiving numerous comments from Usenet readers
about the absence of the telecom feed, I posed a question to the members
of the mailing list asking for guidance in deciding whether or not to
reconnect the Usenet feed.

I'm not really in favor of doing so, but the consensus was it is unfair
to the Usenet readers who have various reasons for not receiving the
email version of the Digest. Of 189 persons who responded, 165 said
the feed should be restored. A dozen were specifically against it,
saying that 'the added hassles were not worth it' (they were people
who had all followed the news.groups thread; some had contributed to
it. Several expressed indifference either way.

Six of the respondents were quick to point out that the restoration
of the telecom feed would simply start the news.group flaming all
over again; others mentioned that if the feed was not restarted, the
flames would continue for that reason also. It appears that either
way this goes, there will continue to be criticism and flaming.

Rather than unfairly punish the Usenet readers who have been without
the feed since December 8, I've chosen to restore it beginning with
this issue. As noted above, this is not entirely my decision, and I
hope everyone will understand I am a little bit wary and more than
a little weary about the continued controversy. I'm anxious to bring
an end to all the fighting going on and the inconvenience this has
caused the many loyal readers of the Digest who prefer to receive it
on Usenet for whatever reasons. The members of the mailing list
seem to in general approve of the decision, and that is what the most
important to me.

Finally, in the spirit of the holiday and in an effort to better
serve the users of the Telecom Archives, I am extending an invitation
to the proprietor of the Telecom-Tech mailing list to have it
included automatically in the Archives in its own sub-directory where
it will be available automatically for anyone who wants to see it
or get back issues, etc. A sub-directory will be established with a
special address to which Telecom-Tech should be mailed if Mr. Higdon
wishes to have it automatically part of the archives of record at
lcs.mit.edu.

I'm not convinced these gestures will make any real difference in
the way things have deteriorated in recent months; but I think its
the right way to go and I'm willing to try and make it work. There is
room on the net for an unmoderated telecom group, and I am willing to
put aside my differences with the group's originator for the good of
telecom news distribution in general. Perhaps others will put aside
their differences with me for the same reasons.


Patrick Townson

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

From: [e-mail] (Chris Nelson~)
Subject: Voicemail on the PC
Date: 21 Dec 1993 01:25:52 GMT
Organization: Intel Corporation


Thanks for reading ...

I recently purchased a used PC voicemail card, titled "The Complete
Answering Machine".  It is 1987 vintage and was produced by "The
Complete PC, Inc.", Milpitas, CA.  The company no longer has a phone
number in the 408 area code.

I'm looking for a lead on what company may have purchased the rights
to the product.  My quest is to find a later version of software that
may have been produced for the card.  Windows support would be most
wonderful!

Please send any response to this query directly to me.


Thanks,

Chris Nelson, N7VEC    |       Internet: [e-mail]
Intel Corp. CH5-217    |    Phone: [phone]   FAX [phone]
5000 W. Chandler Blvd. | Opinions are for those who don't know the facts.
Chandler, AZ  85226    |   Facts are for those who don't have opinions.
                       |        These are my opinions, not Intel's

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

Date: Tue, 21 Dec 93 00:03:43 EST
From: brian bulkowski <[e-mail]>
Subject: How Are Telephone Calling Cards Verified?


Hi oh those in Telecom land -

I've been wondering about two things, and a recent short thread has
touched my memory.

First question is, how do they verify phone calling card numbers? My
calling card is a Pac Bell card, and it works absolutly everywhere
within the US I've ever tried to use it, including out of area Bells
(like NyNex).  Since NyNex doesn't touch PacBell, they would have to
traverse a long distance carrier's line, which seems odd.

Or there's a central clearing house somewhere. Or there's a simple
algorythmic check on the number. Maybe with the added backup that
known bad numbers are stored and denied service. It would seem
reasonable that routing information be stored in the calling card
number, like first three digits are 510, so talk to PacBell, but what
to do about people like ATT who are issuing calling cards but don't
have local phone numbers? If there's a central clearing house, how big
is it? A >100M record database, dutifially fault tolerant, able to
answer all those queries in two seconds each, must be something to
see.

In any of these systems, how do smaller providers like the Orange Card
get the same universality in coverage, or maybe they don't?

This, perhaps, answers the question of the person recently who asked about
how to avoid paying collect charges: use thy calling card.

Second question is this:

What's the telecom situation in Alaska like? I remember there was a
discussion a while ago about Hawaii. But then I was up in Alaska a few
months ago, and pay phones weren't too good on the 10xxx numbers.
AT+T seemed to give me something called Alascom. Does MCI really not
serve Alaska, or just not the pay phones? Is there a different set of
regulations for the Upper State that allows the payphone people to not
route 10xxx numbers? This was true both in a city and the sticks.

I was in a small village a bit north of the circle, Anaktuvuk Pass,
and found a pay phone. Easy to find: right next to the big satellite
dishes. No roads lead to Anaktuvuk Pass. A very interesting place.
The pay phone worked great, took my calling card and everything.

Here's another tidbit: when I call 10xxx - 0 - 510 xxx xxxx from my
415 work number, in order to get lower rates (intra LATA calls that
Pac Bell makes a fortune on), Pac Bell's error message is:

"We're sorry. It is not necessary to dial a long distance company
access code for the number you have dialed. Please hang up and try
your call again."  :-)


Regards,

brianb  [e-mail]

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

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 15:07:40 CST
From: [e-mail] (Erik Berg)
Subject: Privacy and Caller ID/Auto Callback?



Well in a nutshell is there anyway to really block your phone number
from the person you are calling?

Here in IL, Ameritech does have Caller ID and Auto Callback.  You can
maybe block your phone number by using *67, but Ameritech does not
guarantee that this will work with non Ameritech equipment.

Problem is, my wife works with DCFS, a government agency that looks
after the welfare of the state's kids, sometimes taking them away from
their natural parents.  She called a client and used the *67, blocking
out our phone number from the person she was calling.  Problem is the
client has Auto Callback as well as Caller ID.  Even though when my
wife called her, the person was not home, her caller ID box said the
time of the call and it was a private number.  Well this person saw
the private number, freaked and called our house for the last 24 hours
with Auto Callback.  We were out during this time, but our machine is
filled to the rim with these frantic messages, and other wierd things
from the person.  I eventually had to go to work and call her from a
fax machine to erase our number.

On top of that at the end of the month, this person will have our
phone number from the Ameritech bill, if they ask for an itemized bill
of their calls (which the person threaten to do).

We tried everything we could with Ameritech.  Their solution, use
another phone and change your phone number.  This does not seem a fair
solution, and an invasion of some basic privacy.

In six months, Ameritech will have caller ID and User ID so your name
and number appear when you call someone.

Are there any devices out there that can scramble your phone number
from Caller ID and Auto Callback?


erik berg

(hoping the crazy people stop calling us after one call to them)
[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Caller-ID and Auto Callback information
are both passed to the called-party's central office and there is no
real way to avoid having that information available if making a direct
call to someone. You can do *67 to ask the CO not to give out your
number but you can't defeat the call-return part of the process. There
is a ser- vice which operates on a 900 number at a premium fee which
allows you to call through it and out to wherever causing the called
party to get no usable ID/return call information. Even that guy won't
cover for you in the event of legal action against you, but for all
intents and purposes, it provides an effective shield.  I think the
number is 1-900-BLOCKER.   PAT]
(?).  PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 16:35:14 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Steven H. Lichter)
Subject: GTE Files Request re Cerritos Cable Television
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Steven H. Lichter)


GTE files request to continue its Cerritos cable-television operations

IRVING, TEXAS (DEC. 20) BUSINESS WIRE - GTE filed a stay request on
Friday, Dec.  17, with the U.S.  Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit in San Francisco requesting the company be allowed to continue
its cable-television operations in Cerritos, Calif.

The action follows a recent (Dec. 6) Federal Communication Commission
(FCC) denial of a similar stay request.  If granted, the stay would
allow GTE to continue operating its cable-television facility in
Cerritos, Calif., until the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rules
on an earlier GTE petition challenging the constitutional right of the
government to prevent GTE from offering video programming to its
in-franchise customers.

Although the FCC denied GTE's stay request, it did extend from Dec. 9,
1993 to Jan. 10, 1994, the required date for GTE to file how it
intends to comply with the FCC rescission order.

"It doesn't make sense for the FCC to stop our Cerritos project now,
if the court could eventually grant us approval to continue our
operations there," said Geoff Gould, vice president-regulatory and
governmental affairs for GTE Telephone Operations.  "All we are asking
for is enough time for the court to make its decision on GTE's right
to offer video programming to our in-franchise customers."

"In Cerritos," said Bob Calafell, vice president-video services, "GTE
has gleaned tremendous knowledge about interactive-video services, and
we are seeking the opportunity to bring the full benefits of what we
have learned to consumers.  In fact, the Cerritos project has already
spawned one commercial product -- GTE Main Street -- which transforms
the customer's television set into a dazzling new tool for education,
information gathering, travel, shopping and entertainment."

GTE's request to the FCC on Nov. 26 asked for a permanent stay on the
Cerritos rescission order, or at least a delay of 30 days after the
Ninth Circuit U.S.  Court of Appeals' ruling.  The stay, in addition
to preserving GTE's current working relationships in Cerritos, also
would keep the FCC from forcing GTE to use government compliance rules
that are being currently challenged in the courts.

In turning down the stay request, the FCC stated, "The commission
found, in particular, that GTE had failed to demonstrate it would
suffer irreparable harm if a stay is not granted.

GTE is the largest U.S.-based local telephone company and the
second-largest cellular-service provider in the United States.  With
$20 billion in revenues in 1992, the corporation is the fourth-largest
publicly owned telecommunications company in the world.  GTE also is a
leader in government and defense communications systems and equipment,
satellite and aircraft-passenger telecommunications, directories and
telecommunications- based information services and systems.

CONTACT:  GTE Telephone Operations, Irving
     Dick Jones, 214/718-6924, or 214/931-5447, after 6 p.m.

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

Date: 20 Dec 93 16:23:32 EST
From: Alfredo E. Cotroneo <[e-mail]>
Subject: Frequency Database VIRUS


*** VIRUS ALERT ***      [Feel free to repost as necessary]

We have just received a warning by fax from Bob Zanotti of Swiss Radio
International that the computer diskette containing the latest ILG
(International Listening Guide) database produced by Bernd Friedewald
in Germany contained a ParB virus.

Bernd Friedewald has been alerted of the problem, and considering
Bernd's good reputation there is no evidence of the fact that the
diskette might have been intentionally contaminated.

Given the extremely fast service of the Swiss Postal Administration,
there are reasons to believe that Bob Zanotti could have been one of
the first to receive the diskette, and first to discover the problem.
Hope this message get to you on time to take all necessary measures.
You have been warned!

(e.g. DO NOT attempt to either read, or write on the diskette, unless
you are sure that you got a good copy, or you know how to deal with
computer viruses. Contact your nearest computer expert or system
administrator for advice or Bernd Friedewald to know if yours is a
good copy. In any case it is always a good practice to check every
"unknown" diskette with a most recent anti-virus program before using
it)

Thanks to Bob Zanotti for the alert!


Alfredo E. Cotroneo, President         NEXUS-IBA is a
NEXUS-Int'l Broadcasting Association   non profit org.
PO Box 10980, I-20110 Milano, Italy    which operates
Phone: [phone]  IRRS-Shortwave &
email: [e-mail] ____ IRRS-GRM on FM

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

From: [e-mail] (Mark Voorhees)
Subject: New Patent Information Wanted
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 12:46:33 EST
Organization: [MindVox] / Phantom Access Technologies / (+1 800-MindVox)


Does anyone know anything about the following patents, which were all
just issued?

5228055                 Spread spectrum
                        communications device

5228053                 Spread spectrum overlay communications
                        system

5228029                 Cellular TDMA communictions system
                        offset frame synchronization


Appreciate any help.


[e-mail]    Mark Voorhees

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

From: [e-mail] (Ray Wong)
Subject: T1 MUX Recommendations Wanted
Date: 21 Dec 1993 06:26:57 GMT
Organization: Telstra Corporation Limited


I have a requirement to connect a 64 Kbps digital link via a leased
line from New York to Sydney (Australia).  I'm told that the 64 Kbps
link between our equipment(in NY) and the carrier (in NY) has to be
carried on a T-1 service.  That means some kind of MUX will be
required.  Could someone please recommend a suitable MUX equipment or
a better solution?  Our equipment has a X.21 interface.

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

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 16:21:47 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: WDC on Orange Card Bill


I have previously seen WDC on my Orange Card bills for calls made from
Washington DC and the Maryland suburbs.  But it appeared for calls
made from northeastern Md. (where I'd expect BAL to appear) on Nov.
29-30.

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

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 22:35:58 +0100
From: [e-mail] (Lars Poulsen)
Subject: Re: Cable Channels (and Satellites)


Padgett Peterson ([e-mail]) writes:

"The hard part is in knowing which channel to turn on when."

Here in Europe we have a system called "text-TV": 500 alphanumeric
pages of information hidden where the US system has the "closed
captioning" stuff. This includes program schedules for the channel.
Several VCRs can capture the schedule data and use this as a menu
system for requesting what programs to tape.

This is one feature that the US would do well to import from Europe.

Another innovation that I have seen here:

The largest satellite operator (German ASTRA which has a near monopoly
on service to Germany, Scandinavia and I think Be-ne-lux as well) has
two birds in the same nominal slot (and a third one planned) so that
you can get 24 channels without re-aiming the dish. This has allowed
the sale of very inexpensive receiver systems (I have seen a low end
system with 18" dish on sale for USD 155 including 25% VAT!! A normal
price is about twice that for a system with built-in descrambler with
2 "smart card" slots). This kind of pricing for "wireless cable" led
to sharp reductions on cable service prices.


Lars Poulsen     Internet E-mail: [e-mail]
CMC Network Products    Phone: (011-) [phone]
Hvidovre Strandvej 72 B    Telefax:      [phone]
DK-2650 Hvidovre, DENMARK  Internets: designed and built while you wait

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

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 19:26:32 EST
From: [e-mail] (PAUL N HRISKO)
Subject: Cellphones With RJ-11 Connectors


Hi,

     I'm looking for information on cellular phone the either have, or
can be adapted (with a dongle, whatever), to provide, an RJ-11 phone
jack.

     The whole idea is fairly simple -- I want to be able to use my
laptop to send mail, faxes, etc ... while mobile.  I'd also appreciate
information on the best modems to use for this type of application.
PCMCIA-type modems being preferred.

     Please reply by e-mail either to this address:
                      [e-mail]

           or preferably to: [e-mail]

However, if you feel that it won't take up too much bandwidth and may
be useful to others, feel free to reply to the Digest.


Thanks,

Paul

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: TDD Software Wanted
Date: Mon, 20 DEC 93 23:37:36 EST
Organization: Delphi Internet


Mike, the phone company is right -- you can't get ASCII to Baudot
(code used by TYs) communication by software alone.  You're going to
need a hybrid ASCII/Baudot modem. There are several on the market,
including the MIC300i, and they have a version for the Mac too.
Ultratec in Wisconsin produces the Intelemodem, and Phone-TTY in
Hackensack, NJ has a model called the CM-4. Pricing for these products
runs about $350. As for software, there's Futura for PC compatibles
from Phone TTY, and the MIC 300i comes with FullTalk.  I don't think
anything is available specifically for working with UNIX, tho.

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

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 12:45:59 EST
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: International Calls via Cable or Satellite


This refers to calls originating in the UK:

> To get a guaranteed non-satellite circuit to the USA, useful for
> certain data transmission requirements which involve a lot of
> handshaking, dial 0101 83 + area code + number.

> The code 84 allows you to obtain a satellite link, if you really want
> one for any reason.

010 is international access code in the UK, and 1 is the country code
which includes the U.S.  Now you're telling me that EXTRA digits are
inserted for non-satellite/satellite links?  The equipment at the UK
end can handle these extra digits and would not be confused by the
coming of the NNX area codes?

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

Date: Tue, 21 Dec 93 03:43 EST
From: Dan L. Dale <[e-mail]>
Subject: Technical Analysis: Santa Claus, Science and Myth


                  SANTA CLAUS: Science and Myth

As a result of an overwhelming lack of requests, and with research
help from that renown scientific journal SPY magazine (January, 1990)
 -- I am pleased to present my scientific inquiry into Santa Claus and
his merriments.

1)  No known species of reindeer can fly.  BUT there are 300,000
    species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of
    these are insects and microbes, this does not COMPLETELY rule out
    the flying reindeer which only Santa has ever seen.

2)  There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world.  BUT
    since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and
    Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total -
    378 million according to UN'S Population Reference Bureau.  At an
    average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8
    million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.

3)  Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the
    different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels
    east to west (which seems logical).  This works out to 822.6 visits
    per second.  This is to say that for each Christian household with
    well-behaved children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop
    out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings,
    distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever
    LEFT-OVER snacks, scurry back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh
    and speed on to the next house.  Assuming that each of these 91.8
    million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of
    course, we know to be false but for our calculations purpose - we will
    suspend our beliefs), we are now talking about .78 miles per household,
    a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what
    most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc.

    This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000
    times the speed of sound.  For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-
    made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per
    second - a conventional reindeer can run, tops - 15 mph.

4)  The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element.  Assuming
    that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized "Lego" set
    (2lbs), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is
    invariably described as overweight.  On land, a typical reindeer can
    pull no more than 300 pounds.  Even granting that "flying reindeer"
    (see point #1) could pull TEN TIMES the normal amount, we cannot do the
    job with eight, or even nine.  We need 214,200 reindeer.  This
    increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to
    353,430 tons.  Again, for comparison - this is four times the weight of
    the Queen Elizabeth II.

5)  353,000 tons travelling at 650 miles per second creates enormous drag -
    air resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as
    a spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere.  The lead pair of
    reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy per second each.
    In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing
    the reindeer behind them, and create deafening sonic booms in their
    wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26
    thousandths of a second.  Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to
    centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity.  A 250-pound
    Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his
    sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.

Observation:

    In order for Santa to deliver presents on Christmas Eve,
    he and Rudolph's mates will indeed be DIVINE.

                Merry Christmas with all the Blessings,
                       Wishing You and All at Home
             Joy, Happiness, Peace, Prosperity and Success
                             for the New Year.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My sentiments exactly!  PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V13 #832
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