30 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981
The Telecom Digest for November 25, 2011
====== 30 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
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Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:24:23 -0500 From: "Geoffrey Welsh" <firstname.lastname@example.org> To: email@example.com. Subject: Re: Sophos Security's take on Google's latest "_nomap" opt-out offer Message-ID: <54cb8$4ecd727e$adce0fcc$24965@PRIMUS.CA> Opt-out should be illegal in all matters concerning privacy, and the punishment should be forty lashes followed by a keelhauling. Ignoring such silliness as the possibility that a competitor (e.g. Bing) do the same but choose a different tag, making it impossible to opt out of both schemes, Google is essentially requiring that not only countless access points be updated but also that all the devices configured to use them be reset, which in aggregate would cost a lot of money. I will not repeat my previous rant about how Apple's 'simple' consumer products shift the support headache from customers to IT support staff, but this is more of the same. Attention Google, Congress (I'm specifically thinking of the DST date changes, but there may be more expamples), and anyone else who thinks it's just a minor inconvenience for us to do 'just one little thing' to accommodate you, keep in mind that we're all scrambling to make a living out here and that the hassle you all cause us is not insignificant, and the damage you do to the economy by requiring us to spend time on things that neither produce goods or services nor improve security, performance, or reliability is, on a national (or multi-national) scale, mind-boggling. If you want to do something you should figure out how to do it safely and securely with your resources, not ours, thank you very much! ***** Moderator's Note ***** Did someone forget their router password? (Ducks). Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:28:57 +0000 (UTC) From: firstname.lastname@example.org (Garrett Wollman) To: email@example.com. Subject: Re: How 1-800-ITS-UNIX changed the world Message-ID: <firstname.lastname@example.org> In article <email@example.com>, Adam H. Kerman <firstname.lastname@example.org> wrote: >Having learned SysVRel4 and earlier, Berkeley-style Unixes have always >struck me as weird. Having learned Berkeley Unix back in the early days, USG-style Unixes have always struck me as backwards and painful for no obviously good reason. >Also, inflicting sendmail upon the world was evil. sendmail is much better if you're not trying to write its configuration in machine language. These days, it mostly Just Works out of the box, just like other MTAs -- but it's good to know that, if you need to do something truly weird, all of that expressive power is still there behind the scenes. (I think it's been years since I last had to actually touch my sendmail config. Probably when I decided I didn't need the overhead of clam in my mail-processing path, since email is no longer the dominant virus-distribution mechanism.) -GAWollman -- Garrett A. Wollman | What intellectual phenomenon can be older, or more oft email@example.com| repeated, than the story of a large research program Opinions not shared by| that impaled itself upon a false central assumption my employers. | accepted by all practitioners? - S.J. Gould, 1993 ***** Moderator's Note ***** OK, let's just nip this in the bud. The OS wars were waged a long, long, time ago, and nobody won. System 5 vs. BSD is not a discussion worth having, and Sendmail is evil, or at least very confusing. ;-) Followups have been set to comp.os.sendmail. Bill P.S. Besides, real men use Linux and Exim. Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:20:24 +0000 (UTC) From: danny burstein <firstname.lastname@example.org> To: email@example.com. Subject: Re: Telephony on TV Message-ID: <firstname.lastname@example.org> [snippeth] >Did Mannix have a car phone? I remember back then that VIPs would be >shown with a car phone, which were very rare back then. You're right, >it added some "sexy" or coolness to the show. Don't recall about Mannix, but if we go back to the 1950s, "The Adventures of Superman" [a] featured publisher Perry White with a car phone. None of the reporters or other secondary people... [a] As Scotty of Star Trek might have said, "no A, B, C, or D. Just Superman, dammit" -- _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key email@example.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 07:42:30 -0800 (PST) From: Wes Leatherock <firstname.lastname@example.org> To: email@example.com. Subject: Re: Telephony on TV Message-ID: <1322149350.75333.YahooMailClassic@web111703.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> --- On Wed, 11/23/11, danny burstein <firstname.lastname@example.org> wrote: > Did Mannix have a car phone? I remember back then that VIPs would > be >shown with a car phone, which were very rare back then. You're > right, it added some "sexy" or coolness to the show. > Don't recall about Mannix, but if we go back to the 1950s, "The > Adventures of Superman" featured publisher Perry White with a car > phone. None of the reporters or other secondary people... When I was a reporter at The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) we had two cars with car phones. You got a car with a phone if there was a reason it might be needed on an assignment. I used it a number of times on such an assignment. I believe [the phone number] was WJ7-2954. Wes Leatherock email@example.com firstname.lastname@example.org
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:17:04 +0000 (UTC) From: "Adam H. Kerman" <email@example.com> To: firstname.lastname@example.org. Subject: Re: Universal Service Reform Order Yields a Surprise or Two Message-ID: <email@example.com> >Universal Service Reform Order Yields a Surprise or Two >11/21/11 >by Joan Engebretson >Weighing in at 750 pages, the Universal Service and inter-carrier >compensation reform order from the FCC was made public on Friday. The >commission issued a fairly detailed executive summary in late October >when the order was adopted- and in large part, the final order >essentially just adds more detail to what was outlined in the >executive summary. But after an initial review, I did find a few >elements in the order that had not been previously announced. > >http://www.telecompetitor.com/universal-service-reform-order-yields-a-surprise-or-two/ > FCC is ordering 6 Mbps down/1.5 up in rural areas in five years in some portions of rural service area. 4/1 in all Universal Service areas in five years, and 4/1 to 85% of subscribers in three years. What federal law defines broadband as universal service?
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:11:54 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <firstname.lastname@example.org> To: email@example.com. Subject: APPLE-SA-2011-11-10-1 iOS 5.0.1 Software Update Message-ID: <firstname.lastname@example.org> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 APPLE-SA-2011-11-10-1 iOS 5.0.1 Software Update iOS 5.0.1 Software Update is now available and addresses the following: CFNetwork Available for: iOS 3.0 through 5.0 for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, iOS 3.1 through 5.0 for iPod touch (3rd generation) and later, iOS 3.2 through 5.0 for iPad, iOS 4.3 through 5.0 for iPad 2 Impact: Visiting a maliciously crafted website may lead to the disclosure of sensitive information Description: An issue existed in CFNetwork's handling of maliciously crafted URLs. When accessing a maliciously crafted HTTP or HTTPS URL, CFNetwork could navigate to an incorrect server. CVE-ID CVE-2011-3246 : Erling Ellingsen of Facebook CoreGraphics Available for: iOS 3.0 through 5.0 for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, iOS 3.1 through 5.0 for iPod touch (3rd generation) and later, iOS 3.2 through 5.0 for iPad, iOS 4.3 through 5.0 for iPad 2 Impact: Viewing a document containing a maliciously crafted font may lead to arbitrary code execution Description: Multiple memory corruption issues existed in FreeType, the most serious of which may lead to arbitrary code execution when processing a maliciously crafted font. CVE-ID CVE-2011-3439 : Apple Data Security Available for: iOS 3.0 through 5.0 for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, iOS 3.1 through 5.0 for iPod touch (3rd generation) and later, iOS 3.2 through 5.0 for iPad, iOS 4.3 through 5.0 for iPad 2 Impact: An attacker with a privileged network position may intercept user credentials or other sensitive information Description: Two certificate authorities in the list of trusted root certificates have independently issued intermediate certificates to DigiCert Malaysia. DigiCert Malaysia has issued certificates with weak keys that it is unable to revoke. An attacker with a privileged network position could intercept user credentials or other sensitive information intended for a site with a certificate issued by DigiCert Malaysia. This issue is addressed by configuring default system trust settings so that DigiCert Malaysia's certificates are not trusted. We would like to acknowledge Bruce Morton of Entrust, Inc. for reporting this issue. Kernel Available for: iOS 3.0 through 5.0 for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, iOS 3.1 through 5.0 for iPod touch (3rd generation) and later, iOS 3.2 through 5.0 for iPad, iOS 4.3 through 5.0 for iPad 2 Impact: An application may execute unsigned code Description: A logic error existed in the mmap system call's checking of valid flag combinations. This issue may lead to a bypass of codesigning checks. This issue does not affect devices running iOS prior to version 4.3. CVE-ID CVE-2011-3442 : Charlie Miller of Accuvant Labs libinfo Available for: iOS 3.0 through 5.0 for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, iOS 3.1 through 5.0 for iPod touch (3rd generation) and later, iOS 3.2 through 5.0 for iPad, iOS 4.3 through 5.0 for iPad 2 Impact: Visiting a maliciously crafted website may lead to the disclosure of sensitive information Description: An issue existed in libinfo's handling of DNS name lookups. When resolving a maliciously crafted hostname, libinfo could return an incorrect result. CVE-ID CVE-2011-3441 : Erling Ellingsen of Facebook, Per Johansson of Blocket AB Passcode Lock Available for: iOS 4.3 through 5.0 for iPad 2 Impact: A person with physical access to a locked iPad 2 may be able to access some of the user's data Description: When a Smart Cover is opened while iPad 2 is confirming power off in the locked state, the iPad does not request a passcode. This allows some access to the iPad, but data protected by Data Protection is inaccessible and apps cannot be launched. CVE-ID CVE-2011-3440 Installation note: This update is only available through iTunes, and will not appear in your computer's Software Update application, or in the Apple Downloads site. Make sure you have an Internet connection and have installed the latest version of iTunes from www.apple.com/itunes/ iTunes will automatically check Apple's update server on its weekly schedule. When an update is detected, it will download it. When the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad is docked, iTunes will present the user with the option to install the update. We recommend applying the update immediately if possible. Selecting Don't Install will present the option the next time you connect your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. The automatic update process may take up to a week depending on the day that iTunes checks for updates. You may manually obtain the update via the Check for Updates button within iTunes. After doing this, the update can be applied when your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad is docked to your computer. To check that the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad has been updated: * Navigate to Settings * Select General * Select About. The version after applying this update will be "5.0.1 (9A405)". Information will also be posted to the Apple Security Updates web site: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222 This message is signed with Apple's Product Security PGP key, and details are available at: https://www.apple.com/support/security/pgp/ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG/MacGPG2 v2.0.16 (Darwin) iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJOuxWjAAoJEGnF2JsdZQeeYkAH/1Yz7Y7kSrJKjNeGyxLpliM8 1r33Xu0r6+WJgrjq1Ym4S6Yz1SJvz6uyvt8yLlKMxQHpYxmTjoToVbzvCvr81Kam tpXhpfihRtwzSDEJAV7jRShtylVwoTIfUBTp982eun+2PrJmHI3P070pgCjUiT/C 63O4sen+K0hhT2cJxzWYsw1hmXv8OAmy+snUOh44ovMEa10KrpOqxr6sjrSfBbpU gHyD1BOVB5VPUWSpj+R9/Eji634StaPkmy1yp+iv926MpGMGYT8mB07ec4MP4C78 b7ZaKzmhZILikMR6+fiOUWIZJQ0M8TYzyMol15DP/5mnXiHr46eZvsqWeAuvsok= =RjAe -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ***** Moderator's Note ***** I'm disappointed that Apple has forced its customers to install "itunes" in order to get security updates, and I'm not going to believe that it's easier or more efficient or anything but a tawdry ploy to sell more mp3's. BTW, I recommend that all computer users remove all root certificates issued by authorities involved with breaches such as the one mentioned above: IMNSHHO, a gaffe like that one is proof that the authortiy and it's certificates can't be trusted. Bill Horne Moderator
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 07:30:42 -0800 (PST) From: Wes Leatherock <email@example.com> To: firstname.lastname@example.org. Subject: Re: Telephony on TV Message-ID: <1322148642.77765.YahooMailClassic@web111703.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> > HAncock4 <email@example.com> wrote: [Moderator snip] > Question: In conducting business, Hollywood studios made extensive > use of the telephone, even going way back. I wonder if they Bell > System provided them with advanced PBX switchboards or networks to > accomodate their demand. I wonder if studio lots had more telephone > extensions than a typical industrial site. It's easy to forget that a lot of the L.A. area was served by independent telephone companies where AE tlephone and dials were very common, so probably not a conscious deviation in film in many cases. Some of the independent compahies were pretty progressive and their telephone service may have provided by independent companies which could also supply such equipment and networks. Wes Leatherock firstname.lastname@example.org email@example.com
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 08:08:28 -0800 From: Andrew Carey <firstname.lastname@example.org> To: email@example.com. Subject: Re: Telephony on TV Message-ID: <EDC1EFC4-91FC-4B89-A081-A7914057B3CB@ar-ballbat.org> I can't believe no one has mentioned Sidney Pollack's "The Slender Thread" yet. Not really an obscure technology but the entire movie is based on tracing the call of a suicidal women. According to a blurb on TCM, everything except the crisis center was filmed on location in the Seattle area. Chunks of the movie are on Youtube. I don't think it has been released on DVD or Blu-ray. Part 3 has an operating room (not the surgical kind) starting at 3:19 and goes on to a c.o.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkJlpLT_L7M
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