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TELECOM Digest     Tue, 16 Mar 93 02:18:30 CST    Volume 13 : Issue 181

Index To This Issue:                      Moderator: Patrick A. Townson

    New Deadline For ISAC: Intl. Symp. on Applied Computing (Jose Acereto)
    Troubles With WWIV and USR Modem -- Please Assist! (Tim Clinkenpeel)
    California SS7 Announcement in Newsbytes ([e-mail])
    Telecom in East Tennessee During Blizzard (Steve Moulton)
    Common Carrier Research (Arinc, TAT) (Charles Gross)
    Steve Jackson Wins Court Case! (Steve Jackson via Rich Greenberg)
    Did the Blizzard Affect AT&T? (Garrett Wollman)
    Re: US Post Office Not Caught up With Modern Technology (Garrett Wollman)
    Re: US Post Office Not Caught up With Modern Technology (John R. Grout)
    Re: US Post Office Not Caught up With Common Technology (David H. Close)
    Re: Disabling *70 (Steve Forrette)
    Housemates and Telephones (was Disabling *70) (Nigel Allen)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jose Ignacio Icaza Acereto)
Subject: New Deadline For ISAC: Intl. Symp. on Applied Computing
Date: 16 Mar 93 00:44:43 GMT
Organization: ITESM, Campus Monterrey


                             CALL FOR PAPERS

International Symposium on Applied Computing:
Research and Applications in Software Engineering,
Databases and Distributed Systems
October 13-15, 1993
ITESM, Campus Monterrey - Monterrey, Mexico

(* Please note:
   1. Deadline moved to April 30
   2. This event (ISAC) is different from SAC (Symposium on Applied
      Computing) oreganized yearly by ACM's SIGAPP
   3. A printred copy of the old call for papers appears in
      IEEE Computer, Nov. 1992, pp. 21
*)

This Symposium is being organized by the Informatics Research Center
and it is sponsored by the ITESM (Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios
Superiores de Monterrey) in conjunction with Texas A & M University.

                             Objective

The goal of this event is to promote the use of new computing technologies
through:

 *   The presentation of original research with an applied focus.
 *   The exchange of experiences in technology transfer and use (both
     successful and unsuccessful).
 *   The presentation of new ideas and technology that could impact
     industry in the near future.

                             Scope

The program committee is issuing a call for papers in the following principal
areas: software engineering, databases and distributed systems. Some of the
topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Software Engineering
    *       Methodologies for Software Engineering
    *       Total Quality Management in Software Engineering
    *       Object-Oriented Techniques Applied to Information Systems
    *       Software Factory Implementation Issues
    *       Management and Control of: Software Projects, Risk and
            Configuration.
    *       Software Engineering Development Environments
    *       User Interfaces

Databases

    *       Object-Oriented Database Systems
    *       Data and Object Modeling for Information Systems
    *       Data, Object and Repository Administration
    *       Heterogeneus Distributed Database Interoperability

Distributed Systems
    *       Complex Network Management
    *       High Speed Network Management
    *       Network Security
    *       Distributed Systems Modeling and Design
    *       Local Area Networks as Distributed Systems
    *       Distributed Application Design
    *       Real-Time Distributed Systems Design and Development
    *       Client/Server Architecture Implementation Issues

                            Tutorial

In addition to papers, proposals for full- or half-day tutorials are
welcome.  Proposals should include: tutorial title, outline, brief
description of topics to be covered, intended audience, assumed
attendee background, and resume of the speaker.

                    Submission of Papers & Proposals

The paper should identify the area to which it belongs, and also
include an abstract. It should have a cover page containing the
following information: title, authors names, affiliation, and the
e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers of a contact author. Use a
serif font, size 10, single spaced with a maximum of 10 pages.

No papers nor tutorial proposals sent by electronic means will be
accepted.  Please submit 5 copies of a paper or tutorial proposal,
written in English, to the Program Chair or the Tutorial Chair.

                             Location

The International Symposium on Applied Computing (ISAC) will be held in
Monterrey, Mexico from October 13-15, 1993.


                           Important Dates

April 30, 1993: Deadline for submission of papers and tutorial
                proposals.
July 8, 1993: Notification of acceptance or rejection to authors.
August 5, 1993: Deadline for submission of camera-ready papers

Program Chair
Jose I. Icaza
e-mail: [e-mail]

Tutorial Chair
J.Raul Perez-Cazares
e-mail: [e-mail]

Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey
Centro de Investigacion en Informatica, CETEC 6o. Nivel Torre Norte
Av. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey, N.L. Mexico C.P. 64849
Tel. [phone] ext.5082,5076 Fax [phone] ext. 5081
Tel. [phone] ext. 5082, 5076  Fax [phone] ext. 5081

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

From: [e-mail] (tim clinkenpeel)
Subject: Troubles With WWIV and USR Modem -- Please Assist!
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp.
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 02:21:29 GMT


I'm having real woes with getting my USR Courier HST Dual Standard
v.32 to work with WWIV BBS (latest version). I'm hoping that someone
out there has the same hardware and has already solved this problem.

I am unable to do all of the following under one configuration (I've
tried factory, custom and WWIV):

 o  call out and get a good connect to 2400 and below modems;
 o  have 2400 and below callers make good connects to WWIV (sans garbage);
 o  have high speed modems make good connects to WWIV (").

Quoted below are two setups: the custom one suggest to me by a
supposedly knowledgable person (unavailable for further comment) and
the setup WWIV 'recommends' via auto modem detect. Note: WWIV
recognizes my modem as 'USRC2'.  One thing I find particularly
troubling is the presence of &B2 in the setup, which is not a
legitimate parameter.

Any insights greatly appreciated.

                   --begin quoted--

(----"custom"----)
B0 C1 E0 F1 M0 Q0 V0 X7 &A2 &B1 &C1 &D2 &G0 &H1 &I0 &J0 &K2 &L0 &M4 &N0 &P0
&R2 &S0 &X1 &Y3  (how relevant are the status registers?  i'll quote them if
need be)

(----wwiv; quoted directly from modems.mdm file, should be self-explanatory)
FILE: "USRC2"
NAME: "USR Courier (No V.42 - &A2 mode)"
CONF: "ATZ{~~~~~~~AT{~~AT&W{"
SETU: "ATC1E0F1H0M0Q0V1X6&A2&B2&C1&D2S38=1{~~AT&H1&I0&K1&N0&R2&S0S0=0S2=1{"
INIT: "ATB0H0M0{"
ANSR: "ATA{"
PICK: "ATH1{"
HANG: "ATH0{"
DIAL: "ATB1DT"
SEPR: "/"
DEFL: MS=38400 CS=38400 EC=N DC=N AS=N FC=Y
RESL: "OK"              "Normal"        NORM
RESL: "RING"            "Ring"          RING
RESL: "NO CARRIER"      "No Carrier"    DIS
RESL: "ERROR"           "Error"         ERR
RESL: "NO DIAL TONE"    "No Dial Tone"  NDT
RESL: "BUSY"            "Busy"          DIS
RESL: "NO ANSWER"       "No Answer"     DIS
RESL: "RINGING"         "Ringing"       RINGING

RESL: "VOICE"           "Voice"         DIS
RESL: "CONNECT"         "300"           MS=300   CS=300   CON
RESL: "CONNECT 1200"    "1200"          MS=1200  CS=1200  CON
RESL: "CONNECT 2400"    "2400"          MS=2400  CS=2400  CON
RESL: "CONNECT 4800"    "4800"          MS=4800  CS=4800  CON
RESL: "CONNECT 9600"    "9600"          MS=9600  CS=9600  CON
RESL: "ARQ"                             EC=Y     CS=38400
RESL: "HST"             "14400/HST"     AS=Y MS=14400
RESL: "V32"             '/V.32'         AS=N
RESL: "NONE"                            EC=N
RESL: "SYNC"

                            ---end quoted------

Again, thank you to anyone who is willing to take the time to help me
sort out this mess. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out
how to do it myself.


tim clinkenpeel: aberrant analytical skeptical agnostic idealist.

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

Date: Mon, 15 Mar 93 11:12:01 -0500
From: Hierophant <[e-mail]>
Subject: California SS7 Announcement in Newsbytes


An article appeared in the 12 March Newsbytes (clari.nb.telecom)
announcing the arrival of some CLASS end-user services in California.
It briefly outlines the functionality of Call { Trace | Return |
Screen }, Select Call Forwarding, Repeat Dialing, and Priority
Ringing. The article points out that the SS7 technology would have
allowed PacBell to offer the "controversial Caller ID services", but

 "While the company cannot offer Caller ID in California because
 of regulations set by the California Public Utilities
 Commission, it is allowing California residents to make use of
 the SS7 technology ..."

This is in contrast to the discussion here in the Digest, in which it
is indicated that PacBell wasn't prohibited from offering Caller ID,
it merely decided that the requirements placed on this service by the
PUC would keep Bell from making the outrageous profit it desired, and
they decided not to offer it for that reason. However, PacBell now has
"reliable" sources which claim that "the Bad Old PUC won't let you
have Caller ID".  Once again, I have yet to see ANY RBOC own up to its
motives.

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

Date: Mon, 15 Mar 93 12:55:49 EST
From: Steve Moulton <[e-mail]>
Subject: Telecom in East Tennessee During Blizzard


> By the way can anyone give us any weather related telecom updates
> from the eastern states? Are they even getting through at all?  PAT]

In Knoxville, telephone and water were about the only services that
could be depended on.  Power failed at 5:30 am Saturday morning, and
there were periods when it took up to a couple of minutes to get dial
tone, but telephone service was dependable until about 8 pm Saturday.
At that time, battery went away, but would return for a few minutes
each time the electricity flickered on (which it did several times
from 10 pm to 2 am).  Presumably, since I am something like eight
miles from the CO (615-69x, 615-53x) there was a battery in a vault
somewhere that ran down).

ATT long distance service had all circuits busy whenever I tried
Saturday (one or two rings, then an ATT intercept message); finally I
had the inspiration to try another carrier (10333 - US Sprint) and got
through for the one LD call I had to make.  Call completion was
immediate and clear.  Sunday, I spent most of the day logged in and
connected to Florida State, so WRT telecom things seem to be in pretty
good shape.

Hundred of homes in the Knoxville are still without power (Monday
noon), after our 15 inches of snow (I measured 18 inches in an area
not susceptible to drifts; had four foot drifts on our deck) and nine
degree temperature at 8 am this morning.  I just talked to a four
wheel drive owner who has only catnapped in the past 48 hours; as of
last night city government and the Red Cross were still calling for
four wheel drive owners to help with medical emergencies.

We are digging our way out.  My back hasn't ached like this since
I left Cincinnati years ago.


Steve Moulton  Grad Student  Ayres 111  [phone]   [e-mail]
         University of Tennessee Department of Computer Science


[Moderator's Note: We've seen nothing like that here in Chicago for 25
years. We gpt a 27 inch snow storm January 30 - February 1, 1967. I
was at UC at the time and had worked all night in the phone room, no
busier than usual even though the snow was piling up outside all
night. Trouble is, 7 AM comes around, and not one single person from
the day shift showed up! There was only one operator all night, but
usually 10-12 operators on the day shift. I thought I was going to go
crazy by 8 AM when all the campus offices had (in theory) opened up.
Very few people showed up for work in those offices either. The day
supervisor made it in about that time and flipped out when she saw me
and something like a hundred lights on the switchboards all blinking
for attention.  She went right on the 'Telepage' (a paging system
with loudspeakers in offices all over campus, hallways, cafeterias,
etc broken down by 'zones' for where you wanted to voice page someone)
and using the switch position marked 'All Call' she announced "if
there are students or employees who know how to run a switchboard,
please report to the phone room at once. Help is desparately needed in
the phone room, 5801 Ellis, 6th floor." And I think she sat there and
repeated that announcement over and over a dozen times in the next
fifteen minutes or so, stressing " ... do NOT attempt to call the
switchboard, just COME to the phone room ...". Volunteer operators
came straggling in over the next several minutes, and by that point
some of the full time regulars had started making it in also. For the
evening shift starting about 4 PM, she had found out who would make it
in and who would not, and had things organized.  PAT]

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

From: A. Charles Gross <[e-mail]>
Subject: Common Carrier Research (Arinc, TAT)
Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1993 20:35:04 GMT


I am doing research on limited spectrum sharing/common carrier
arangements and how they are structured and regulated.  Specifically,
I am seeking information on how the 1) transatlantic cables are
regulated and 2) how ARINC shares its spectrum among a variety of
users.  Any information or comments would be greatly appricated.


Thanks,

Adam   [e-mail]    I speak for myself

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

From: [e-mail] (Rich Greenberg)
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Steve Jackson Wins Court Case!
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1993 22:00:00 CST


[Moderator's Note: News of interest about Steve Jackson, passed along
to the Digest by Rich Greenberg. Thanks, Rich!    PAT]

 Newsgroups: austin.eff
 From: Steve Jackson <[e-mail]>
 Subject: We have a verdict.
 Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1993 21:24:46 GMT

We won.

Pete Kennedy, our attorney at George, Donaldson & Ford, called me with
the news about 3:30 today. Apparently the decision came in late Friday
while Pete was at the CFP.

The judge ruled for us on both the PPA and ECPA, though he says that
taking the computer out the door was not an "interception." (I have
not read the decision yet, so no quotes here.)

He awarded damages of $1,000 per plaintiff under the ECPA.

Under the PPA, he awarded SJ Games $42,259 for lost profits in 1990,
and out of pocket costs of $8,781.

Our attorneys are also entitled to submit a request for their costs.

No word on appeal yet.

Look for a more complete and coherent account after we all read the
decision.

Please copy this announcement to all electronic and other media.

Thanks for your support through all this!

           ------- End of forwarded message -------

@DATAPHONE@@USER@* Christopher Davis * <[e-mail]> * <[e-mail]> * [CKD1] *
226 Transfer complete. 17512509 bytes received in 5.2e+02 seconds (33 Kbytes/s)

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

From: [e-mail] (Garrett Wollman)
Subject: Did the Blizzard Affect AT&T?
Organization: University of Vermont, EMBA Computer Facility

Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1993 17:50:21 GMT


Over the past week, I have been calling my parents in Reno, NV (702
829), to tell them the results at the World Figure Skating
Championships which took place in Prague.  (This is necessary because
they live to far south to deserve same-day coverage in the eyes of our
all-knowing network TV programmers.)  Now my PIC is AT&T, since nobody
has given me enough on an incentive to change.  Starting Friday
evening, before the blizzard had even gotten as far north as New
Jersey, the sound quality on my AT&T calls began to deteriorate
dramatically (this is from 802 864), and stayed noticeably degraded at
least until Sunday.  During this period, I used Sprint for my calls,
and noticed no degradation.  Does anybody have ideas on why this
should be?

(TELECOM Digest readers may remember some months ago I reported on the
battle of the Montreal radio stations taking place on our local NBC
affiliate.  They have now taken this to new heights of oddness:
sandwiched in between the advertisements for CHOM and "Mix 96",
during popular syndicated programs like "Wheel of Fortune", they are
now running ads for CBC *Television*.  (Big surprise to me ... not
that I nmormally *watch* "Wheel", you understand.))


Garrett A. Wollman   [e-mail]
uvm-gen!wollman      UVM disagrees.

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

From: [e-mail] (Garrett Wollman)
Subject: Re: US Post Office Not Caught Up With Modern Technology
Organization: University of Vermont, EMBA Computer Facility
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1993 17:50:21 GMT


@DATAPHONE@In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Harold Hallikainen) writes:

> At the destination sorting station (Goleta for us),
> the mail is sorted into route order based on the 9 digit zip.  All
> this for 29 cents.

When I was in Finland a while back, they used electronic sorting as
well.  However (and here's the catch), for a meager FIM 1,80 (about 50
cents or so), first-class letters which arrived at the post office
before 5PM on any postal day would be delivered the next day.

Even with all the automation, the USPS still wants $8.95 for this.

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

From: [e-mail] (John R. Grout)
Subject: Re: US Post Office Not Caught up With Modern Technology
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: UIUC Center for Supercomputing Research and Development
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 93 21:29:04 GMT


[e-mail] (Harold Hallikainen) writes:

> Even if the writer did not use the nine digit zip, the system looks
> up the nine digit zip for that address and codes the envelope with it.
> For hand-written addresses, a person reads the address, keys it in,
> then the machine codes the envelope.  I'm not sure of what the
> operator has to key in.  I'd expect it to be something like number,
> street, city, state, zip so the envelope does get coded with a full
> nine digit zip.  At the destination sorting station (Goleta for us),
> the mail is sorted into route order based on the nine digit zip.  All
> this for 29 cents.

It is city, state, street number, street and apartment number (often
forgotten) ... there are various automated ways to get nine-digit zip
information, including a CD-ROM version of the nine-digit zip code
manuals.

Two years ago, before I moved here, I found out my new nine-digit zip
code at a museum exhibit which used this CD-ROM, and so I put it
trustingly on my change of address notices.  To my surprise, _most_ of
the businesses and magazines that use nine-digit zip codes copied my
apartment number (from the separate field for it on the notice) into
my address while managing to both ignore the _correct_ nine-digit zip
I gave them _and_ to automagically generate an _incorrect_ nine-digit
zip which did _not_ use my apartment number.


John R. Grout    [e-mail]   University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Center for Supercomputing Research and Development

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

From: [e-mail] (David H. Close)
Subject: Re: US Post Office Not Caught up With Common Technology?
Date: 16 Mar 1993 05:11:09 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena


Marvin Sirbu <[e-mail]> writes:

> If the U.S. Postal Service began offering fax service there would be
> an incredible hew and cry from companies like Mailboxes Etc. and
> others that a Fedral Government agency that does not have to pay taxes
> was competing unfairly with a private sector business.

Maybe its time to propose a divestiture for the USPS?  You know, break
them into multiple competing organizations like Ma.  Then the above
would not be a valid complaint.  (Yeah, I've heard the objections.
Perhaps the change in terminology would help: divestiture instead of
privatization.)  This seems to me the kind of proposal only a Democrat
in the Presidency could get away with ...


Dave Close, [e-mail], BS'66 Ec

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)
Subject: Re: Disabling *70
Date: 15 Mar 1993 21:56:34 GMT
Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA


@DATAPHONE@In article <[e-mail]> hpubvwa![e-mail] (Tad
Cook) writes:

@DATAPHONE@> In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
> (Francis J Park) writes:

>> I am dealing with a highly annoying roommate who is fond of turning on
>> *70 to disable call waiting when he calls out voice.

> Gee, I would LOVE to have a roommate who uses this feature!  Far
> better than ones who don't disable Call-Waiting, and then just ignore
> the beep.

You mean there are still people out there that share phone lines?  :-)
Seriously, I can't imagine not having my own service.  When I had
roommates, I've always gotten my own line installed.  In addition to
modem traffic, one big issue with me is being able to get messages in
a reliable manner.  I understand that some telco voicemail offerings
address this issue by providing the caller with a menu selection as to
which person at the called number they would like to leave a message
for.  This way, each person sharing the line can have their own
voicemail box.


Steve Forrette, [e-mail]

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

From: Nigel Allen <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1993 19:00:00 -0500
Subject: Housemates and Telephones (was Disabling *70)
Organization: Echo Beach, Toronto


@DATAPHONE@In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Francis J Park) writes:

> I am dealing with a highly annoying roommate who is fond of turning on
> *70 to disable call waiting when he calls out voice.

There is a great deal to be said for roommates getting their own phone
lines. When I moved into a shared house ten years ago, I made a point
of getting my own phone line (with one phone in my bedroom and an
extension in the kitchen). This turned out to be particularly useful
later on when the housemate in whose name the house phone line was in
had problems paying his phone bill. (And when I started getting
harassing phone calls on my line, they upset me but they didn't affect
my housemates -- and I was able to put an end to the harassing calls
by having my phone number changed.)

I lived at the house at 16 Major Street in Toronto for four years, and
I liked my housemates, but I'm glad that I had my own phone line
there.

I know one couple with four phone lines: one for her, one for him, one
for the computer, and one for the community group they help run.

 So my advice to [e-mail] (Francis J Park) and his
"highly annoying roommate" is to seriously consider getting another
phone line.


Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada     [e-mail]
Canada Remote Systems - Toronto, Ontario  416-629-7000/629-7044

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

End of TELECOM Digest V13 #181

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