HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: hutzley@ranger.dec.com (Steve Hutzley)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Format of ZIP Code Bars on Envelopes
Date: 11 Jan 93 23:22:33 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 21, Message 2 of 13

In article <telecom12.928.7@eecs.nwu.edu>, ssay@prefect.cc.bellcore.
com (say,halim s) writes ...

> I would like to find out the encoding for the ZIP code bars on USPS
> mail envelopes.

> I could figure out this much:

> Ones are long bars, zeros are short bars.  Start and end with a one.
> Each digit has five characters.  I could figure out what zero through
> nine correspond to.

> The only remaining part is the check digit at the end.  Only one check
> digit is used both for five digit regular ZIP code and nine digit
> extended code.

> Now my question is: What is the encoding/decoding rule for this single
> check digit?

> Does anyone know or could you tell me a reference for this "standard"?
> I am sure some address generator software would have this algorithm.

See {PC Magazine} a few months ago (November/December), they had the
whole scheme in there. Its kind of an inverted BCD where the LONG ONES
are 0 and the SHORT ONES are 1 (I think), and there were CLOCK pulses
in there to compensate for the speed variances of the reading machines.


Steve
From: ole@Csli.Stanford.EDU (Ole J. Jacobsen)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Call for Volunteers at INTEROP 93 Spring
Date: 12 Jan 93 02:52:32 GMT
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 19, Message 4 of 10

Please distribute as widely as possible:

                        Call for Volunteers:

           The INTEROP Conference Assessment Team (CAT)

Interop Company is seeking student volunteers to serve as quality
control monitors for INTEROP 93 Spring, to be held in Washington, DC,
March 8-12, 1993.  This is a unique opportunity for students to attend
the industry's premier networking conference and tradeshow, while
helping us improve the quality and consistency of the conference.

As a CAT member you will receive:

* Complimentary conference registration for all three conference days;

* Complimentary conference notes;

* Complimentary registration for an INTEROP tutorial on Monday/Tuesday [NEW!]
  (You may be assigned to a tutorial that is not your "first choice",
  but we will make every effort to acommodate your requests.)

* Complimentary lunch all three days;

* Special INTEROP CAT T-shirts;

* A complimentary copy of the book "Exploring the Internet";

As a CAT member you will be asked to:

* Monitor preassigned conference sessions on one of the three conference
  days, by submitting written reports and acting as the "eyes and ears"
  of the conference organizers. We will provide you with a basic
  evaluation form to aid the preparation of the reports.

(You will be free to attend any conference session and the INTEROP
exhibition on your "days off.")

* Provide an accurate count of the number of people attending the
  sessions you are assigned to. ("Clickers" will be provided!)

Successful CAT candidates will be students currently enrolled in a
computer science or electrical engineering course at undergraduate,
graduate or post-graduate level. Applicants should have some
understanding of (and interest in) computer networking issues. All
applications must be received by February 15, 1993. Please note that
Interop Company cannot cover any travel or accommodation costs
associated with the CAT program, however as a CAT member you will be
elligible for the standard conference discount rate at a number of
Washington, DC hotels.

To apply, send e-mail to: ole@interop.com with a brief biography and
relevant contact information. Don't forget to send a POSTAL address as
we will need to send you some hardcopy material.

*** PLEASE: Do not include my message in your reply. If you must
include it, please do so AFTER your reply rather than before it. Thank
you very much.***


Ole J Jacobsen, Editor & Publisher ConneXions--The Interoperability Report
Interop Company, 480 San Antonio Road, Suite 100, Mountain View, CA 94040,
Phone: (415) 962-2515  FAX: (415) 949-1779  Email: ole@csli.stanford.edu
From: DLEIBOLD@VM1.YorkU.CA (David Leibold)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Canadian Competition Full Steam Ahead; Bell Canada Loses
Date: 7 Jan 93 05:02:45 GMT
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 12, Message 2 of 13

CFRB Radio in Toronto reported today that Bell Canada will not pursue
any further appeals with respect to the decision last June which
opened up public long distance competition in Canada. Bell appealed
portions of that decision relating to the level of compensation that
competitors to Bell would have to pay to gain trunk-side access to
Bell's local network.  That is, while Unitel was able to offer a local
number port service (Feature Group A type service), the enhanced
services such as equal access, 10xxx+ dialing, 950 access and 800
services were on hold while the appeal was being processed.

In December, the appeal court found that the CRTC did not overstep its
authority in issuing the long distance decision, and that the CRTC's
decision could stand. At that time, Bell could have made another,
final appeal to the Supreme Court of Ca nada but as of today's
announcement, such an appeal is not proceeding.

Some time will elapse as preparations for full trunk-side access are
made.  The prevalence of Bell Canada DMS digital switches should make
the switch to equal access relatively straightforward on a software
scale (those DMS switches have to work in the U.S. environment in any
event). The costs seem to be in the hardware and trunks necessary to
connect to the carriers.

At least we're not getting any COCOTs ... yet :-)


dleibold@vm1.yorku.ca
Date: 7 Jan 1993 12:29:45 -0800
From: leavens@mizar.usc.edu (Justin Leavens)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: ACD Equipment Suggestions
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 13, Message 2 of 3

I'm about to start looking for equipment for one of our offices to do
automatic call distribution and some other items. Not being sure what
kinds of things are available, let me list some things we want to
accomplish:

1. Must be ISDN compatible (does this throw me out right there?). Our
   campus runs on a 5ESS.
2. We'd like to automate our switchboard operatations as much as 
   possible, so touchtone menus are needed.
3. Some of our offices want a recorded message to play to each caller 
   before the call is transferred to the office.
4. Some of the offices would like recorded messages to play while callers 
   are on hold in queue. How many callers can typical systems queue up?

Any comments or information on what kind of equipment could be
purchased/leased to do these things would be very helpful. Please
e-mail responses, as I have a hard time keeping up with the volume of
messages here these days.  Thank you in advance.


Justin Leavens / Microcomputer Specialist / University of Southern California
From: lmalloy@abacus.bates.EDU (Laura G. Malloy)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Why Does Phone Bell 'Ping' on a Regular Basis?
Date: 7 Jan 93 08:14:17 GMT
Organization: Bates College, Lewiston, Maine
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 15, Message 4 of 10

In article <telecom13.8.9@eecs.nwu.edu> glenn@rigel.econ.uga.edu
(Glenn F. Leavell) writes:

> It seems that I've seen discussion on the following topic in the
> TELECOM Digest before, but I can't remember the answer or find
> anything relevant in the archive index.

> My parents live in Mississippi and get their local phone service from
> South Central Bell.  According to my parents, the bells in their
> phones make a 'ping' every evening around 10:15PM.  They say that the
> ping almost always occurs around the same time, but that on certain
> nights it may not occur until close to midnight.  They've called South
> Central Bell about this, and they were told that the ping was NOT
> occuring due to anything that the phone company was doing.

[deletia]

Same thing happens to us in Clinton, NY, each evening (sometimes
weekends, too) at just about 11 PM.  I've always assumed some sort of
telco testing was going on, but it would be nice to know exactly what
they are doing!


Joe Malloy/WB2RBA    German Department/Hamilton College/Clinton, NY
Date: 11 Jan 93 16:36:11 GMT
From: sanford@ascend.com (Curtis Sanford)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Calling 1-800 Can Cost You a Fortune
Organization: Ascend Communications, Alameda CA
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 20, Message 5 of 17

In article <telecom13.12.4@eecs.nwu.edu> udi@cs.washington.edu (Udi
Manber) writes:

> If you always thought that 1-800 numbers (in the US) are toll free,
> think again. With new technology and the lack of regulations, people
> are finding new ways to make money.

> It is possible, and apparently perfectly legal, to set an 800 number
> such that when you call you hear a recording that tells you that there
> will be charges for the call.

Typically 800 numbers are not blocked from pay phones.  What happens
if you call such a number from a pay phone?  Is this a way to have
sweet revenge on the COCOT industry?


[Moderator's Note: See my comments in an earlier message in this
issue. The IP's have begun keeping a data base of payphones, and they
refused to service callers from those places.  PAT]
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 04:06:15 GMT
From: jfk@ais.org (Jim Knight)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Hunt Groups
Organization: UMCC
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 21, Message 13 of 13

M-Net A Public Access Unix System here in Ann Arbor has two different
prefixes in it's trunk hunt.  We had no trouble getting the phone
company to add two numbers from another site into our trunk hunt.  We
are in the 313 area code, and have both 994 and 996 prefixes in our
trunk hunt.


Jim
From: gsc@coombs.anu.edu.au (Sean Case)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Format of ZIP Code Bars on Envelopes
Date: 12 Jan 93 00:08:56 GMT
Organization: Australian National University
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 21, Message 1 of 13

shri%unreal@cs.umass.edu writes:

> Curious enough to hunt for another factoid ... does anyone know what
> fraction of the entire snail mail in the US is generated by business
> and how much by Aunt Agatha ?

> Should give some insight into how much mail the automatic sorters
> actually can ever benefit from. And if the dreams of USPS to read
> human handwriting are so important?

Here in Australia, most envelopes are sold with preprinted boxes for
the (four-digit) postcode. Australia Post claim that their equipment
can read hand-scrawled postcodes so long as they're in the boxes.
Typescript addresses don't have to use the boxes, but pushing the
postcode out to the right of the address is supposed to help.  They
don't say what sort of error rate they have, though.

I heard a story some time back that the good ol' USSR had envelopes
with a mark sense area for the postcode (possibly using a
seven-segment layout). Mail with unreadable postcodes was discarded.
That's certainly one approach ... is this just obsolete propaganda?


Sean Case   gsc@coombs.anu.edu.au
From: kenny@osf.org (Kenneth Crudup)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: It's Not a Bug, it's a Feature ...
Date: 7 Jan 93 20:02:25 GMT
Organization: Open Software Foundation
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 14, Message 11 of 14

In article <telecom13.7.11@eecs.nwu.edu> armhold@dimacs.rutgers.edu
(George Armhold) writes:

> At RU, I worked with Sun 4/110s. I have pretty sensitive ears, and could
> always hear a high-pitched whine when lots of data went through the wire
> One thing that was neat about this is that whenever someone logged in to
> the workstation I was working on I could actually *hear* them log in. 
> Nobody believed me of course.  Whenever I tried to show it to someone they
> thought I was nuts. :-)

I believe you. Sun's power supplies seem to be just adequate enough so
that during periods of heavy CPU-intensive computations (like
interrupt-based devices like network chips causing context switches),
when the machine is drawing more current, the regulator in the
switcher supply (which is a high-frequency oscillator so that there's
less ripple when the AC it produces gets rectified and filtered, and
more efficient because of smaller cores to burn up good electricity as
heat) causes the oscillator to increase the duty cycle of the primary
winding pulses to compensate for the increased requirements. This
period of additional supply registers in the cores of the transformers
as a slight "bleep", and a bunch of them together produce the "music"
you hear. I used to troubleshoot Sun-2's aurally as well.


Kenny Crudup, Contractor, OSF DCE QA
OSF, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142	+1 617 621 7306
kenny@osf.osf.org	OSF has nothing to do with this post.
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 21:25:36 -0500
From: wlw2328@ultb.isc.rit.edu (W.L. Lance)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Cheapest LD Company to Call One Interstate Number Four+ Hours/Week
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 16, Message 9 of 12

The subject says it all, I am looking for the cheapest way to confer
with someone in CA (I am in NY) four or more hours a week. The number
will always be the same, and the calls will be after 6 or 9pm EST.
Does anyone have any sugg suggestions? I have heard some discussion of
purchasing blocks of time in a advance for better discounts. I also
thought I heard someone mention (along time ago) a set monthly fee
with unlimited calling to one number. Does anyone have any info? The
more the better so please respond!


Thanks,

Lance Ware
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 14:46:36 GMT
From: amdunn@mongrel.UUCP (Andrew M. Dunn)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Canadian Competition Full Steam Ahead; Enter AT&T
Organization: A. Dunn Systems Corporation, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 19, Message 7 of 10

In article <telecom13.12.2@eecs.nwu.edu> DLEIBOLD@VM1.YorkU.CA (David
Leibold) writes:

> At least we're not getting any COCOTs ... yet :-)

No, but AT&T announced yesterday that they're entering the Canadian
market via a modified partnership/investment arrangement with Unitel.

Unitel is presently a joint venture of Canadian Pacific and Rogers
Communications.  Each will reduce their stake to 40% to give AT&T 20%
of Unitel in exchange for investment, market development, technical
expertise, and access to AT&T's American network.

Unitel President George Harvey commented that it was the right move to
make at the right time, that AT&T was a strong player in the world
telecommunications market, and that the arrangement would benefit all
parties.

He particularly stressed that the move would lead to faster, cheaper
communications throughout Canada, and that he expected rates to fall
quickly as new arrangements were made.

Unitel offers communications services in competition with Bell Canada
in the long-distance market, as well as private circuit facilities to
businesses (which has been their mainstay up until the present time).

It will be interesting to see what this venture brings.  It will, at
the very least, be a significant change to the Canadian telecommun-
ications marketplace.

I don't work for Unitel, Rogers, CP, or AT&T.  Nor am I a customer
(yet).  But I did once work for Unitel's predecessor...


Andy Dunn     <amdunn@mongrel.UUCP> or <dunn5177@mach1.WLU.CA>
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 12:43:11 +0200 (IST)
From: baskin lester <whart01@ccsg.tau.ac.il>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Spread Spectrum Regulations in Europe 
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 8, Message 7 of 11

As part of a study at the Graduate School of Business Administration,
Tel Aviv University we need information regarding SPREAD SPECTRUM
REGULATIONS in EUROPE.  Can anyone on this list speak to this subject
or point to sources of information or point to an expert in this
field?  Any assistance in this matter would be much appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

Please respond directly to me as I am not a member of this list.


Lester Baskin   Internet:  whart01@ccsg.tau.ac.il
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1993 05:49:28 GMT
From: hauben@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Michael Hauben)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Need Help in the Study of Computers and Communications
Organization: Columbia University
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 16, Message 3 of 12

Communications among humans has begun to radically change since the
introduction of computers into the process. I plan to try to work in
the field of computer communications and networks.
 
I am currently a college sophomore and must declare my major or
concentration by April. Thus, I am trying to design a special
concentration of study to propose to my advisor.  Broadly I would like
to call my concentration "Computers and Society." I would like to
study this field as broadly as possible, incorporating history of
technology, sociology, philosophy, and thinking on future
implications. However, if I must narrow my approach, I might want to
focus on "Computers and Communications."
 
I am interested in the role computers play in our society.  Recent
technological advances have been advancing society at a faster rate
than ever before possible. I would like to study the computer's place
in society in relation to what advances it has made possible. Also I
would like to study how the technology, that is the computer, can,
has, and will change society.
 
Currently I am planning to study computers and telecommunications. I
plan to study both the technological foundation, and the social impact
and implications of computers to communication. I need to plan a
program of studies. I need help figuring out what focus to take in my
program of studies, and also suggestions of courses that would form a
solid program in the study of computers and communications. It is
possible to take courses in other divisions of my University, such as
the School of Engineering, if I design my own interdisciplinary major.
 
Again, I would be interested in hearing from others about what majors
of telecommunications or computers and communications exists in other
schools. Either that or the possible broader major of computers and
society or technology and society would be interesting to hear. Also,
any suggestions of what kinds of courses should be involved in either
majors.

 
Thank You,

Michael Hauben   hauben@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu  am893@cleveland.freenet.edu
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 01:50:24 GMT
From: barry@coyote.datalog.com (Barry Mishkind)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: It's Not a Bug, it's a Feature ...
Organization: Datalog Consulting, Tucson, AZ
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 20, Message 17 of 17

kstox@admips2.Berkeley.EDU (Ken Stox) writes:

> Back in the "old" days, we used to leave an AM radio next to an IBM
> 1130, you could actually pick up the CPU activity. One clever
> programmer started writing some very interesting compositions. Of
> course, with the advent of modern synthesizers, it would be totally
> unimpressive.

Radio Shack actually sold several tunes that played on the TRS-80 and
made noise on a radio held near. This was late '70s


Regards,

Barry Mishkind     barry@coyote.datalog.com   FidoNet 1:300/11.3
Date: Sat, 09 Jan 1993  19:53:27 EST
From: Paul Robinson <FZC@CU.NIH.GOV>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject:  AT&T and Novell Form Alliance
Reply-To: TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 16, Message 8 of 12

 From the {Washington Post}, Page D12 of Jan 7:

AT&T and Novell, the computer software giant, announced an alliance to
create products that link computer networks and business telephones.
From: kstox@admips2.Berkeley.EDU (Ken Stox)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: It's Not a Bug, it's a Feature ...
Date: 7 Jan 93 19:25:26 GMT
Reply-To: kstox@admips2.Berkeley.EDU (Ken Stox)
Organization: AC Nielsen Co.
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 14, Message 9 of 14

Back in the "old" days, we used to leave an AM radio next to an IBM
1130, you could actually pick up the CPU activity. One clever
programmer started writing some very interesting compositions. Of
course, with the advent of modern synthesizers, it would be totally
unimpressive.


#include <std_disclaimer.h>
Ken Stox 	Consultant to A.C. Nielsen	kstox@naitc.com