HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 10:02:35 -0600
From: rickie@trickie.uucp (Richard Nash)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: GTE California Changes
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 671, Message 1 of 9

Jeff Sicherman <sichermn@csulb.edu> writes:

> In article <telecom12.659.9@eecs.nwu.edu> HOLDREGE_MP <HOLDREGE+_MP%A1%
> PacifiCare@mcimail.com> writes:

>> John Higdon can no longer complain about the incompetant GTE reps in
>> Thousand Oaks, CA. He soon will be able to complain about the
>> incompetant GTE reps in North Carolina, Florida, and Texas.

>> A GTE spokeman said that the job transfers are a part of a continuing
>> effort to consolidate operations at company facilities in Texas, North
>> Carolina and Florida, and to automate jobs now performed by humans.

> Does this mean they will be programming the computers to ignore and
> throw away trouble tickets ?

Most network operations, surveillance operators have a pre-programmed
hot-key on their workstations that brings up the ticket and
automatically closes it with a "no trouble found". :) :) All they have
to do while watching TV on the big impressive network status screen,
is wait for the beep!  Of course some types have unofficially
programmed the workstations to completely do this, recognizing key
trouble phrases such as NDT (no dial tone) and dispatching
accordingly.  A cross reference of trouble phrases to standard results
has been built up over the years and much like the old artificial
intelligence program ELIZA, can make about the same apparent
intelligent decision. SNITS, Switching Network Intelligent Testing and
Surveillance program is written in different flavors, (to accurately
reflect the locale jargon). :) :) :) --


Richard Nash   Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6K 0E8
UUCP:       trickie!rickie@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 16:43:35 GMT
From: helfman@aero.org (Robert S. Helfman)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: 911 on Jerry Springer Show
Organization: The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 665, Message 10 of 15

In article <telecom12.660.9@eecs.nwu.edu> Jeff Garber <0005075968@
mcimail.com> writes:

> What good is it to have a phone with you if you can't use it in an
> emergency? I've used L.A. Cellular to call 911 many times and have had
> no problems like this ...

I have PacTel Cellular and have also had no problem using 911. I saw a
man down being beaten by someone in the right lane of Santa Monica
Blvd (the victim was holding his head and screaming while the other
guy was kicking him). I grabbed the phone about 200 feet past the
scene, called 911, told them (they had real difficulty getting the
correct intersection -- it was obvious they weren't anywhere in the
area), and drove on. About another 200 feet down the street, I passed
the fire station, where several sheriffs were starting out on their
bicycles. I rolled down my window and told them what I'd seen and they
said they had just been dispatched.  Net time: about 45 seconds.
From: YSAR1111@YORKVM1.BITNET
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Disaster Reporting On Usenet
Date: 31 Aug 92 18:11:35 GMT
Organization: York University
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 675, Message 4 of 12

I am surprised that Usenet, as powerful a medium as it is, has not
been more widely used to coordinate disaster relief activities.  For
example, I am sure there would be great support for a group such as
misc.disaster.coordination and/or misc.disaster.reports, which could
be used by anxious friends and relatives to find out about friends and
family in disaster areas, to disseminate information on relief
efforts, provide addresses of those agencies accepting donations, and
to report on the situation in affected areas.  It is my feeling that
the Usenet community would benefit from newsgroups that would act as a
central clearinghouse for information of this sort when a natural
disaster strikes, anywhere in the world.
 
Are there any folks out there who have experience in creating a new
newsgroup, and are willing to moderate a discussion and run a vote for
the creation of newsgroups dealing with disaster assistance?  Does
anyone think this is a good idea?  I don't have the time to get fully
involved at this stage because of other demands on my time, but I am
hoping that someone is willing to take this idea and work with it.
 
 
Rick Broadhead    <ysar1111@VM1.YorkU.CA>    <ysar1111@yorkvm1>
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 92 9:42:32 CDT
From: oakes@maize.rtsg.mot.com (Ronald Oakes)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: AT&T and Sandia
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 665, Message 13 of 15

haynes@cats.ucsc.edu (Jim Haynes) writes:

> I see by the news that after September, 1993 AT&T will no longer serve
> as the management and operating contractor for the Dept. of Energy
> Sandia National Laboratories.  Does anybody know what's happening?  Is
> this AT&Ts decision, or DOE's decision, or is the lab being closed, or
> what?

I do not think that any decisions have been made yet.  However, Sandia
will remain open -- or at least it is supposed to.  I have heard
rumors that the University of New Mexico is thinking of taking over
the management, and I suspect there may be other interested parties.

I have to say that I hope that Sandia does not close.  My father has
worked there for 30+ years as an engineer. Additionally, directly and
indirectly most of the population of Albuquerque, NM -- my home town --
would be effected by its closing.

I suspect that AT&T's decision to not renew the contract to operate
Sandia is related to the large number of lay off's that have been
occuring at the AT&T division around here, the automation of operator
services, and the other steps that they seem to be taking to
streamline operations.


Ronald B. Oakes
From: mmo2273@aw2.fsl.ca.boeing.com (Michael M. O'Dorney)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Pulse Dialing Through to a PBX Extension
Date: 1 Sep 92 15:51:36 GMT
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 676, Message 3 of 8

In 1967, I called Columbia University (New York City) from Buffalo.  I
was using a rotary dial phone.  I called a conventional ten digit
number (212-xxx-xxxx) and received a recording to dial an extension
and then a dial tone.  I dialed the extension (I was answering a job
and had the extension number) and was connected to the extension.

This was either the biomedical engineering department or the
electrical engineering department number.  Does anyone know how this
was done, how did the system pick up dial pulses reliably, was this
Bell hardware or third party (or home-brew) by the school's
department.  I later heard that this system was called "direct inward
dialing" and not "centrex", although later on, centrex and DID were
used interchangeably in marketing hype from NYTelephone.  (I do not
know when "centrex" as a term was created.)


Michael M. O'Dorney         | Voice: 206-237-1274 (work)
Boeing Commercial Airplanes | 
P.O. Box 3707, M/S 96-02    | Internet:   mmo2273%aw2@orcas.fsl.ca.boeing.com
Seattle  WA  98124-2207     | Boeing net: mmo2273@aw2


[Moderator's Note: I'll tell you who else used to accept dial pulses
through their WATS extender: United Airlines on their Unitel network,
a system which connects all UAL facilities across the continent. I
have no idea how they could do it, but you could call into the WATS
extender (which by the way went with *no password required* for
several years) and rotary dial all over the immediate, local area
network of United. Pulsing could not be done throughout the entire
Unitel network however; tones were required to hop off-net and
continue dialing through a remote PBX to an outside line in a distant
city. UAL finally wised up, getting rid of progressive dialing in lieu
of 'enter only the end destination number, we will route it' and also
requiring passwords.  PAT]
From: kludge@grissom.larc.nasa.gov ( Scott Dorsey)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Automated Hate Calls in Minnesota
Date: 26 Aug 92 12:59:07 GMT
Organization: NASA Langley Research Center and Reptile Farm
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 668, Message 7 of 12

In article <telecom12.661.3@eecs.nwu.edu> plains!person@uunet.UU.NET
(Brett G Person) writes:

> Apparently, people there I getting alls from a new kind of
> telemarketer slime encourageing them to hate minorites, Jews,etc.  It
> sounded like the phone calls were comming from an automated dialer
> that plays a tape encouraging violence. The State Attourney General's
> office says that this doesn't violate any laws.

I have got calls from a local church, which uses an automated dialer
to call in the afternoons and exhort people to attend church.  I have
also got a call from an automated dialer which is reminding me to vote
for the Republican party in the next presidential election.  I did not
find either of these offensive, although I found them both rather
silly wastes of telephone switching capability.


scott


[Moderator's Note: We have one working hard here at present exhorting
whoever answers to be sure and vote Democratic.  PAT]
From: ariel@world.std.com (Robert L Ullmann)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Cell Phones in the Air
Date: 1 Sep 92 02:51:57 GMT
Organization: The World in Boston
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 674, Message 6 of 10

lchiu@animal.gcs.co.nz (Laurence Chiu) writes:

> of the smaller planes like 737's). This led me to think about the
> movie Die Hard II where air phones figure prominently in the plot. In
> some sequence, our hero gets paged by his wife from a plane, he checks
> the pager and calls her back on the plane.  Is this possible or some

At the risk of somehow accepting-by-failure-to-rebut the other 100-odd
totally hilariously stupid technical errors in the "plot"; no, you
can't call an Airfone.

That said: I watched it a couple of days ago on cable, and if you just
watch the "human" story as a shoot'em-up, it ain't bad at all.  Hell,
all TELECOM readers should watch it just for the amusement of
wondering what you could make as a consultant if Hollywood cared one
whit for technical accuracy.

This movie has almost as many technical idiocies as SPACE*1999 but
not quite. Start with the idea that airplanes are somehow "stuck" at
the outer marker when the radio goes down, continue through the idea
that a pilot of a commercial passenger airplane would try to land
without visual on the runway lights, and end with the idea that you
can tap into and simulate an airport control tower by attaching
alligator clips (or equivalent) to the cables and then hacking through
them with an ax.

In between, forget that blanks _sound_ different to any expert, and
forget that if you toss anything larger than a small chicken through a
turbine engine, it disintegrates. (The engine, not the chicken. Well,
it too .. ;-)


Robert Ullmann		Ariel@World.STD.COM	+1 508 879 6994 x226
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 92 17:44:56 GMT
From: rice@ttd.teradyne.com
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Disaster Reporting On Usenet
Organization: Teradyne Inc., Telecommunications Division
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 682, Message 6 of 10

In article <telecom12.675.4@eecs.nwu.edu>, YSAR1111@YORKVM1.BITNET
writes:

> I am surprised that Usenet, as powerful a medium as it is, has not
> been more widely used to coordinate disaster relief activities.  For

> Are there any folks out there who have experience in creating a new
> newsgroup, and are willing to moderate a discussion and run a vote for

Look for alt.hurricane.andrew. It's been in existence since shortly
after Andrew hit florida.


John Rice        K9IJ      |  "Did I say that ?" I must have, but It was
                           |   MY opinion only, no one else's...Especially
                           |   Not my Employer's ...
rice@ttd.teradyne.com
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 92 8:01:03 CDT
From: Will Martin <wmartin@STL-06SIMA.ARMY.MIL>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: 2500 Picturephone in the News
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 670, Message 12 of 12

Regarding the TV Jukebox channel discussion:

Here in St. Louis, this is an over-the-air service on Low-Power TV
Channel 58. (I suppose you can also get it through some or all of the
cable services but I don't have cable so don't know for sure.) Anyway,
I'm glad the topic came up, since I have several questions about it
which I've never known where to ask!

1) Is this a nationwide service, fed from a satellite, so that
everyone all over the country (or continent, or wherever) is seeing
the same video at the same time, and there is one master "jukebox"
feeding these videos in response to te 900-number calls? Or is this a
localized service in which each region has their own "jukebox", so
that what I see here in St. Louis may be entirely different from what
is seen in another region?

2) Is there one single 900 number for the whole nation, going into
that "central" site mentioned above, or different 900 numbers for each
area?  Or does a single 900 number feed into separate local
"jukeboxes" depending on the geographic location of the caller?

3) Does this system use laserdiscs of the videos or what? Can anyone
provide a summary of the hardware that drives it?

4) I note the three-digit codes for specifying songs skip over
intervening numbers in the index displays -- for example, it could go
789, 790, 792, 794, etc. Are the skipped numbers actually invalid, or
do they still point to previously-advertised selections which are
still in the system?  Is it possible to get these people to send you a
"master list" of all the three-digit codes and what songs they point
to if you call one of the 800 numbers they run?


Regards, 
Will   wmartin@st-louis-emh2.army.mil OR wmartin@stl-06sima.army.mil
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 03:10:16 GMT
From: mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us (Marc Unangst)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Modem Noise on Line
Organization: The Programmer's Pit Stop, Ann Arbor MI
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 672, Message 10 of 12

In article <telecom12.664.9@eecs.nwu.edu> shapiro@trade.enet.dec.com
(Steve Shapiro) writes:

> The problem is that whenever the modem is active, there is a lot of
> hissing and noise heard on the voice line.

It sounds like you are a victim of a pretty bad crosstalk problem.
Most likely, it is the fault of your inside wiring, not the phone
company.  To determine where the problem lies, disconnect your voice
line at the demarkation point, but leave the modem line connected.
Then, plug a voice phone into the voice line at the demark while the
modem is active.  If you still hear crosstalk, then the problem is
with the telco's wiring.  Otherwise, it lies within your house, and
you're going to have to either fix it yourself or pay the telco to fix
it for you.

If it turns out to be with your wiring, the problem is most likely
that inappropriate cable was used for at least part of the wiring.
Flat "silver satin" or "quad" cable should not be used for anything
other than short runs between a phone jack and a telephone or other
telecom equipment.  This is because quad does not properly shield the
two pairs from each other, resulting in mutual coupling and crosstalk
in anything resembling a long run.  If quad was used for wiring
between the network interface and a phone jack, or if it was used to
extend an existing cable run, you almost certainly will get crosstalk.

The solution is to find all the quad in your house that was used
inappropriately, rip it out, and replace it with "twisted-pair" cable.
As the name implies, this is cable where each pair of wires is twisted
together, thus shielding the pair and lessening the chances it will
interfere with an adjacent pair.  Since you're pulling new cable, you
might as well plan for the future and pull more pairs than you need;
four-pair cable isn't that much more expensive, and will save you a
lot of trouble if you ever add lines.


Marc Unangst       mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 92 7:21:59 EDT
From: mcmullan@sd-sun1.vf.ge.com (Scott A. McMullan)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Looking For Off-Hook Specs in RJ12 or RJ13 Connections
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 679, Message 12 of 15

As far as telecom hardware goes I'm about as green as it gets, so
please feel free to correct me where I'm wrong.

In RJ12/RJ13 phone connections I believe there is a separate circuit
that is used to control the "off-hook" lights in other phones on the
system.  I need to know how much power goes thru that circuit in a
"normal" (I know, there's no such beast) system.  I'm trying to design
a piece of hardware which will be controlled by the relay in a modem
which exists to complete that circuit, and I can't find the ratings on
the contacts of that relay.

Please e-mail replies if you can, and I'll summarize if there's
interest.


Scott A. McMullan  GE AOD, Valley Forge    (215) 354-5160
 :) All opinions expressed are mine, I cannot speak for my employer or others.
 :) Try my BBS at (215) 789-5748  9600 baud
Date: 26 Aug 92 20:25:03 GMT
From: ehopper@attmail.com
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: AT&T and Hurricane Andrew
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 664, Message 1 of 12

Pat: Here is an item of interest from AT&T Today, the internal
electronic newsletter.
 
HURRICANE AID *** As of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, 80 AT&T employees in
southern Florida were unaccounted for, and the homes of an estimated
100-150 employees were devastated in the wake of Hurricane Andrew.  No
figure on total AT&T employees in the affected area was immediately
available.  Company efforts are underway to locate unaccounted-for
employees and to help others move belongings from their homes and find
temporary shelter.
 
The AT&T Foundation donated $100,000 today to the American Red Cross
Disaster Relief Fund for Florida.
 
There is an URGENT need for supplies for our friends and co-workers in
Dade County, Fla.  The following items are needed: portable radios,
batteries (size C and D), flashlights, Coleman stoves, matches, ice
chests, paper products (towels, utensils, trash bags, toilet paper),
bottled water and juices, manual can openers, canned food, linens,
cots, blankets, towels and washcloths.  Adult items needed are
clothing and toiletries. Children's items needed are shoes, clothing
and toys.  Baby items needed are diapers, formula, baby food,
clothing, bedding, powder and ointment.  Other items needed are
aspirin, Bandaids, bug spray, sunscreen, pet food, litter and litter
boxes, collars and leashes.  Donations should be sent to Pioneer
Office, 6451 N. Federal, Room 101B, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. 33308.
 

Ed Hopper AT&T - IMS Atlanta, GA


[Moderator's Note: Ed, I am more than happy to help spread this call
for assistance through the telecom industry among the readers of this
Digest. How about let's all take a few minutes Thursday and prepare
boxes of stuff to be sent, preferably via Federal Express so that it
will arrive by the weekend or Monday at the latest. The need is very
great *right now*. Grab stuff that you do not need from the list
above, toss it in a large cardboard box and send it to the Telephone
Pioneers in Ft. Lauderdale. These donations will be distributed
throughout Dade County with telco employees in the area given
priority. Perhaps readers can post this on company bulletin boards and
have other employees bring in stuff Friday morning.

If you prefer (or can spare yet a second box full of stuff) your
packages can be sent to the City Clerk, City of Homestead, Homestead,
FL marked 'disaster relief supplies'. Telco employees with a few days
vacation coming might want to volunteer their service by going down
there and helping residents and businesses get their telephone
instruments connected and back on line pending restoral of service.
Even if all you do is send a few cans of food and some toilet paper,
**please do it Thursday if at all possible, and use an overnight
courier to get it there Friday**. The folks are in very bad shape.
PAT]
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 92 10:12:02 EDT
From: Jerry Leichter <leichter@lrw.com>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Monitoring of Broadcasts
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 683, Message 2 of 10

Adrienne Voorhis continues to question how the 1934 Communications Act
can prevent one from talking about what one has overheard on a
non-broadcast band -- after all, what about the First Amendment?

This strikes me as one of those "it's a free country" arguments that
kids get into.  The fact that one element of a crime, considered
alone, is not illegal (and may even be constitutionally protected)
does not prevent the combined acts from constituting a crime.  It's
not illegal for me to walk down the street in front of a bank.  It's
not illegal for me to take a bag from your hand as I walk by the door
of the bank.  But if you and I agreed to rob the bank, and you just
stole that bag and handed it to me to carry away, I'll go to jail.
(In fact, part of YOUR illegal act was saying to the bank clerk "Give
me all your money".  Free speech?)

The crime is "intercepting a non-broadcast radio communication and
revealing its contents (or even existence) to another".  I'm safe as
long as I don't perform both acts.

If I intercept such a communication and turn the results over to my
friend the reporter, he is free to print it.  I've broken the law.  If
he had no prior understanding with me that I would be doing this
interception, he's home free.  (Consider the Pentagon Papers case:
Even if the physical papers themselves were arguably stolen property,
and the Times should have known that, the most that the government
could do is insist that the physical papers be given back; the Times
could still publish the information in them.)

If, on the other hand, my friend and I agreed that I will provide this
service for him, he's an accessory to my crime.  (If I do this for him
on a continuing basis, even if we never talk about it, at some point a
court would probably decide that we had an understanding.)  Daniel
Ellsberg came to the Times with the Papers; they didn't send him off
to take them.


Jerry
From: hhallika@zeus.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Funny Answering Service Error (was How Do I Locate Graybar?)
Date: 30 Aug 92 22:44:02 GMT
Article-I.D.: eecs.telecom12.673.13
Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 673, Message 13 of 13


	Years ago when we used an answering service, we got a call
back from Graybar confirming some order.  The answering service told
us the call was from "gay bar".


Harold


[Moderator's Note: Did the answering service people look sort of
askance at you after that whenever you were in their office? :)   PAT]