A Beginner's Guide to the Internet/INTERNET.ISO/text/telediag/tc13-184.txt

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TELECOM Digest     Wed, 17 Mar 93 02:57:00 CST    Volume 13 : Issue 184

Index To This Issue:                      Moderator: Patrick A. Townson

    What Makes Communications So Exciting Using Computers? (Michael Hauben)
    Phase Noise Causing Garbage at 9600 bps (Steve Chafe)
    1.2 Watt Handheld Cellphone (Phydeaux)
    X-10 Phone Interface TR551 (Fred Ennis)
    AT&T Acquisitions (was Cellular System A and B Info Wanted) (F. Goldstein)
    Country Codes and Area Codes Within Countries (Ted Koppel)
    10-ATT-0 and COCOTs (Doug Krause)
    Motorola's Iridium Project Information Needed (Brian Strasshiem)
    Mobile Computing Day at Rutgers (David Goodman -and- Tomasz Imielinski)
    ATM Information/White Paper/Newsgroup Wanted (Eric Berggren)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Michael Hauben)
Subject: What Makes Communications So Exciting Using Computers?
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1993 08:05:20 GMT


Communication and computers. What does it mean, what could it mean? To
many it has meant a technological frontier that is exciting. The
advances in communication via computers have been evident over the
last ten, twenty years or so.

Because of the technology there is a need for more thought of the
connection to beyond the technical. The technical has been fairly well
covered compared to exploring the non-technical implications.

I need to figure out how to think about communications in a more
abstract way or in a broader way. The link between the actual
hardware/software combination and the ensuing results needs to be more
concentrated on. I would like to spend time doing some of this
thinking and studying.

I am interested (for example) in *what* has been the attraction of the
growth of the readership and reach of Usenet News. (In addition to the
Internet, and other various computer networks.)

I find it really hard to describe what I am asking right now -- but
there is a spark that has made Usenet the explosive grassroots effort
that it has been. People have *WANTED* to communicate somehow using it
and this is the only way it has grown and developed. I am interested
in trying to figure out what the charm or spark is that has developed
the various different computer communications mediums -- email, news,
irc, etc.

So far, there is one person that has some very interesting ideas about
the role of computers in communication. This is Ithiel de Sola Pool.
He seems to have some thoughts about what I am thinking of, and the
role computers play with that. However he doesn't particularly
followup on it. Below are some interesting quotes from his book
"Technologies Without Boundaries". They seem to provide a link between
the technical and what I am thinking about. I would appreciate any
leads on similar works. If anyone has any ideas, suggestions,
comments, possible resources, or general thoughts about my questions
or train of thought, please either followup to this message or email
to me.


Thank you,

Michael Hauben

The quotes:

Pool 32 - "There was a time when electronic communication and
computation were thought of as quite separate and distinct activities.
Today they are intertwined to the point where no meainingful
borderline between then can be drawn. Both a computer and a digital
telecommunication system can be described as devices that switch bits
of information around under the control of a stored program. Each has
a memory in which signals are stored. Each accepts input signals from
terminals and also sends output signals to other terminals."

33 - "...But by the 1970s many computer systems had become widespread
networks of dispersed processors and memories...
    A particularly significant kind of data trasmission system is
one called a packet network(italics). The name comes from the fact..."

56 - "We have described this fourth of the great technological trends
of our times not so much as an increase in computer usage (which of
course it also is) but as an increase in the interactive capability of
the communications system. Logical reaction becomes part of its
capability. The machines react with intelligence, and so give their
users some of the interaction that was previously available only in
conversation.

    What has made it possible for a physical network of equiptment
to interact with its human user is the marriage of telecommunication
with computer logic. This coupling is acheived in part by attaching
what could also be stand-alone computers to the network and in part by
incorperating digital logic into the telecommunications system
itself."

57 - "    A second factor in the marriage of telecommunications with
computation is the use of 'distribution logic.' In the 1960s it was
not clear the way of the future lay in this direction....[Idea of big
computers] What followed ...

58 - "The predicition that the growth of minis would reduce
communication was incorrect because it looked on computers as
calculating machines. It focused too exclusivly on the internal
economics of computation, on how much a particular set of calculations
cost, adding together both computing bills and communications bills to
do it. *It did not take account of what people would be using their
computers for and the total costs involved in those activities.*
*Specificly, it did not consider that a large part of what people use
their computers for is communication.*

    For example, when the ARPANET (A R P A N) was developed, the
expectation was that people would use it to take advanatge of
especially good software that might be running on a computer
elsewhere; people were expected to use it to do computations that they
could not do at home. (7) There is little use of that kind because
once users learn their own programs and machines, they rarely find it
worthwhile to take the time to become familiar with another set that
has its own special idiosycracies. But the ARPANET has been used a
great deal. *It has been used for communication.* *It has created a
community of scholars who work together and exchange experiences and
information.*"

59 - "INERACTIVE AND INDIVIDUALIZED COMMUNICATION"
    "*In one way or another, the programmed logic that can be
built into modern electronic communication is reducing in part the
passive uniformity of masscommunication.* Just as computer-controlled
assembly lines can vary the product in a way that would be
prohibitivly expensive otherwise, so too computer-controlled media
production can bring into the realm of economic feasibility kinds of
communication that take some account of the individuals to whom they
are addressed."

89 - "'...It would constitute the material beginning of a real World
Brain.' (27) Wells foresaw that the encyclopedia might be a network;
in 1936 he could not see how, and could not be sure.  Fifty years
later we can be.
    The first few ganglia of Wells' world brain already exist.
Information retrieval has become a big business. The industry is also
called electronic publishing, which probably describes it better, for
it is the dissemination of information in electronic form..."

Conclusions from page 260-262 that I have not typed in yet.


Michael Hauben    CC '95      |Write ME for the Fall'92 Amateur Computerist
[e-mail] | Special Supplement on Usenet News called
[e-mail]   |   "The Wonderful World of Usenet News"

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Chafe)
Subject: Phase Noise Causing Garbage at 9600 bps
Organization: Computing Services, UC Davis
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 17:29:08 GMT


Hello,

Has anyone tried to find the cause of bursts of four or five garbage
characters that appear randomly (ever few minutes to every few hours)
on a 9600 bps data call that does not have error correction in effect?

We are seeing similar characters each time the noise happens -- often
a question mark ? or a hat ^ .  The fact that the same characters come
up often suggests that it is not from random electromagnetic noise.
It may be phase noise from the central office switching equipment.  If
anyone has experience troubleshooting this type of noise, I would love
to hear your opinions!

Also -- does anyone know if there exist minimum requirements for phase
hits on a switched voice telephone call?


Thanks,

Steve Chafe   Communications Resources   [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 16 Mar 93 10:22:00 PST
From: [e-mail] (Phydeaux)
Subject: 1.2 Watt Handheld Cellphone


I've seen advertisements for a 1.2 watt Blaupunkt handheld cellphone.
I thought the limit was .6watts.  What's going on here?



reb

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

Subject: X-10 Phone Interface TR551
From: [e-mail] (Fred Ennis)
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1993 20:11:41 -0500
Organization: Page 6, Ottawa, Ontario [phone]


I have the X-10 telephone interface, and I need to modify it.

I have a 1A2 key system at home, and I want to take my intercom line
which has battery on it for a talk path, and use the DTMF tones to
trigger the interface, allowing me to control X-10 modules from any of
the keysets simply by depressing the intercom line and dialing the
activating digits.

The TR551 as it comes "out of the box" answers the phone, waits for a
minute or two, and then hangs up.  I need to know if someone has been
able to modify the TR551 to always monitor the phone line, and respond
if there is a DTMF signal that needs to be processed.

Failing that, does anyone know of a reasonably priced DTMF decoder
that will happily sit on a line with battery, and wait for the tones,
and then send them out decoded to 1 thru 0 (as opposed to outputs that
go high for each of the two tones).

I will gratefully accept email from kind comp.dcom.telecom readers on
this one.

Cheers!


Fred Ennis, [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Fred R. Goldstein)
Subject: AT&T Acquisitions (was Cellular System A and B Info Wanted)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1993 03:47:54 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> TELECOM Moderator notes:

> [Moderator's Note: Well you have to remember a history lesson here.
> AT&T often used to accuse MCI of 'skimming the cream', but seventy
> years ago, the Mother Company was the biggest cream skimmer around....

 (much text omitted)

> Then comes the 1950's and the farmers finally got their
> REA mortgages paid off. For the first time in a quarter-century the
> telephone cooperatives started making profits with no debt service
> monkeys on their back. Bingo, all of a sudden AT&T decides to start
> buying them up, 'in order to modernize the system'.

Nice story, Pat.  But I'm not so sure of its preciseness.  Back in
1912, AT&T entered into the "Kingsbury" agreement, in which they were
granted the right to monopoly local service in exchange for which a)
independents had access to AT&T toll, and b) they could acquire no
more territory.  Prior to 1912, AT&T had skimmed the cream, but that
left several thousand independents, and of course the REA helped grow
more in the '30s.

So due to Kingsbury, when the farmers sold out, they couldn't sell out
to Mother.  They sold out to GTE, they sold out to Contel, they sold
out to TDS, they sold out to United (now Sprint), they sold out to
their neighbors, but AT&T was not allowed to buy them.  Indeed the
first new "Bell" territory in over seven decades was the section of El
Paso County, Colorado just east of Colorado Springs that US West
bought in 1984.  US West was no longer bound by its predecessor's
limitations (but had more of its own!), and NASA was contemplating a
big complex in eastern El Paso.  Since then, Bells have done a bit
more acquisition, but GTE has done the most.

Or at least that's the way I remember it.


Fred R. Goldstein   [e-mail]
k1io             or [e-mail]   voice:[phone]
Standard Disclaimer:  Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires permission.

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

From: [e-mail] (Ted Koppel)
Subject: Country Codes and Area Codes Within Countries
Organization: CARL Systems Inc, Denver, Colo.
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 93 04:02:15 GMT


I am hoping that the creature that I desire exists in the archives, in
machine readable form, but I'll be thrilled to accept pointers in the
direction of printed sources for the information I require.

For one of our applications in which we make a large number overseas
long distance calls, it will be useful to be able to identify all the
country codes (this part is easy) and to the extent possible the
city/area/region codes within each country code.  I don't care about
prefixes within a city, just the fact that within France (for
instance) the city code for Lyon is 7 and the city code for Nice is
93.  Does such a creaature exist?  Would AT&T, or Sprint, or someone
else have collected this (even if it were a marketing tool, the
information is what's important!)?


Thanks,

Ted Koppel  --  [e-mail]  or   [e-mail]


[Moderator's Note: You bet we have it! Check out the Telecom Archives
using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu (login anonymous, use name@site as
your password, then 'cd telecom-archives' and 'cd country.codes'. You
will find the results of much effort by Dave Leibold and Carl Moore in
exactly the form you desire. Hundreds of countries, thousands of cities
in the country lists. Then from the main archives directory, you should
also go to the sub-directory of Canadian area codes and prefixes, also
detailed by the same gentlemen. Finally, from the main archives direc-
tory, get a copy of 'areacode.guide', the 'npa.809' files and whatever
else you see with reference tables, etc. Then send a note to Dave and
Carl thanking them for their hard and continuing work on this.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Doug Krause)
Subject: 10-ATT-0 and COCOTs
Organization: University of California, Irvine
Date: 16 Mar 93 09:32:39 GMT


I found a pay phone in Texas that would not accept 10-ATT-0 to get me
on the AT&T network.  Isn't that illegal?  If so, where should I
report this?

Douglas Krause  [e-mail]   University of California, Irvine


[Moderator's Note: Yes it is illegal to block 10xxx codes from any
phones in a 'transient environment', meaning hotels, university dorms,
pay phones and a few other cases. It is not illegal to block 10xxx in
non-transient environments like employer PBX's.  Where should you
report it?  You can try muttering to yourself, that might be the best
bottom line. You can report it to the FCC, and you can report it to
Mother; she in particular wants to hear about it, but I've reported a
few and nothing ever seems to change.   PAT]

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

From: Brian Strasshiem <[e-mail]>
Subject: Motorola's Iridium Project Information Wanted
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 21:33:50 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois


Hello there, I am desperately seeking information regarding Motorola's
Iridium Project.  I have mostly been scourging through magazines and
electronic bulletins regarding this subject.  I would really
appreciate detailed information or suggestions on where I may find
information.  Also of interest are potential competitors to Iridium,
frequency allocations, collaboration with PCN's, and security issues
surrounding satellite transmissions.


Many thanks in advance.

Brian Strassheim

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

From: [e-mail] (Br Badrinath)
Subject: Mobile Computing Day at Rutgers
Date: 16 Mar 93 23:30:07 GMT
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

MOBILE COMPUTING DAY

9:30 - 4:00, April 12, 1993, CoRE Building, Busch Campus, Rutgers
University, Piscataway, New Jersey

WINLAB and the Computer Science Department at Rutgers invite you to
attend Mobile Computing Day, the first event in a series of informal
gatherings of researchers. Mobile computing research attracts people
with a variety of backgrounds including computer science, telecomm-
unications, and microelectronics. On April 12, we will learn about
work in progress and hear a variety of expert opinions on future
directions. Attendance will be limited and there will be a nominal $50
registration fee to cover lunch and other expenses. The theme on April

12 will be:

What is Mobile Computing?  Is it a New Field?

Here is the tentative agenda. Titles of talks will be announced soon:

9:30 Opening Remarks and Introductions
 (say a few words about your background and current work)

10:15 D.Goodman   (Rutgers WINLAB)

10:45 Coffee Break

11:00 R. Woolf    (Bellcore)

11:45 Lunch

1:00  T.Imielinski (Rutgers WINLAB)

1:45  D. Duchamp  (Columbia)

2:30  Panel "Is Mobile Computing a New Research Area?"

4:00  Adjourn


To register for Mobile Computing Day (or to be notified of future
events) please contact:

E-mail: Tomasz Imielinski  [e-mail]
Fax:    WINLAB  908-932-3693
Mail:   Melissa Gelfman, WINLAB, Box 909, Piscataway, NJ, 08855-0909.
Phone:  WINLAB 908-932-0283

If you send us $50 now (payable to WINLAB), things will go smoother on
April 12.

Looking forward to seeing you on Mobile Computing Day.


David Goodman -and- Tomasz Imielinski

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

From: [e-mail] (Eric Berggren)
Subject: ATM Information/White Paper/Newsgroup Wanted
Date: 17 Mar 1993 02:29:20 GMT


  I am seeking the definative guide to ATM networking. "What is it
precisely and how it works" type information. Pointers to the relavent
groups/guides welcome.


  Thanks,

Eric Berggren   Computer Action Team   [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V13 #184