Skype is down

Well, it's a huge country. I also have several friend who ditched their land-line. Guess what? I often dread calling them because they are out of range all the time. Then you leave a message and who knows when they get it. Because they can't get it until their phone are able to catch a signal. Then they call back. "Th ... oe ... ted to call ... ck. phsshhhhhhht .. click." ... "Hello? Joe, is that you? Hello? Hellohoh?"

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg
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Ok, let's parse some more.

Hint: Calling cards. If you use 1-800-xxx-xxxx you can use almost anyone's phone. I use Costco calling cards for business. Under 3c a minute. My cell is 18c/minute.

If you must call overseas the picture darkens a lot more. 7c with a calling card, around 11c on POTS for most of Europe (from the US). Do that on a cell phone and people will here a thud when your bill cometh.

Free off-peak only if you sign a longterm contract and pay $40-$50/month.

If you sign a longterm contract and pay $40-$50/month.

If you sign a longterm contract and pay $40-$50/month.

AFAICT pretty much all my clients have a huge POTS connection. Some also have others for video conferencing and such but there is always the POTS backup. And we often had to use the POTS backup when the video conference broke up again and again. I've become close friends with the fax machine at those places to get the essentials of a short-notice presentation across at the last minute, such as schematics. And yeah, I do have a fax machine here plus a backup fax, for good reason.

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

I've been using IP-telephone from a local (i.e. Norwegian) provider for several years. It was quite a bit of trouble when they first started but for the past years it has been very stable.

I have a small box where I connect my router and my old analog telephone (actually all the old analog connections in my house).

I pay 20 US$/month and can make an ulimited number of calls to all POST phones in Europe and North America (include cellphones in the US) without any extra cost.

Petter

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A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
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Reply to
Petter Gustad

Your experience is different than mine. I have to ask a doctor's caller if there's a message I can give the wife even if the call is just an appointment reminder.

Reply to
Everett M. Greene

Not quite sure what you mean about that generational comment. I didn't mention anything about my age in my previous post...

Yes, you're correct that some companies _are_ ripping out their existing phone systems and replacing them with VoIP services - however, there are also companies that still go to the phone company for another 100 lines or whatever. A friend of mine works at a call centre where they have just done this - and they use nothing but POTS.

The promotion of VoIP has only ever been about cost, and even that isn't clearcut as here in the UK there's little to be saved if most of your calls are domestic. There's no mention of quality of service in the equation. Therefore you have to put up with poor latency, fidelity and availability and it seems that many are doing it without even noticing it until their call is hindered in some manner. You never _used_ to need the phonetic alphabet to give a post code - you do if either party is on a mobile. And how often do you find yourself inadvertently talking over the other party in a call - this is a sure sign of poor latency which is bad on a mobile and even worse on VoIP.

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Andrew Smallshaw
andrews@sdf.lonestar.org
Reply to
Andrew Smallshaw

That can seriously backfire with teenagers. And it does. I remember many families where they couldn't even sit down for a dinner together anymore. Their kids were on their cell phones, incessantly, all the time. In more than one case those "family-disconnected" kids have become very troubled kids. Dropping out of school, getting into trouble with the law and so on.

When I was young we had one phone. My parents would let us do things such as rescheduling the training for a swimming contest and stuff. But we were not allowed to drone on about some hobby electronics project because that could very well be discussed during recess the next day. The world would not fly off its orbit around the sun if we didn't solve it that same day. In hindsight I believe that kind of discipline was very good for me and my siblings.

Yes, in this day and age I'd want kids to have a cell phone for safety reasons. But not to yap and yap for hours on it or text-message until they have to see the doctor for throbbing thumb joints. Just like the one I have (pay-by-minute, no fees, no contract). Anything lengthier can wait 'til you get home. If it's necessary at all, that is. And it rarely is.

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

Here it's more into the information age: At Kaiser Permanente you do all that via the Internet. You can also use the phone but then it's best to brew a large pot of coffee for the usual "press 5 if ..." trek.

Heck, we even ordered a refill over the web, comes by mail. Took one minute, versus about 1-1/2 hours for the trip to the pharmacy and the wait time there.

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

I agree 100%. I have a pay-as-you-go also, but only turn it on to check for voice mail, or because *I* want to make a call. I spent 30 years with a computer company and only had one call that couldn't wait, and that was only during the last 3 years! Gary

Reply to
Gary Drummond

One of the problems in the developing world is the copper keeps disappearing!

Came across this problem 5-6 years ago out in Africa - and that was before the cost of copper skyrocketed!

Glyn

Reply to
Glyn Davies

That's why they tend to use microwave to cover distances.....

Not only does copper keep disappearing telegraph poles are useful in building (and fire wood)

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\/\/\/\/\ Chris Hills  Staffs  England     /\/\/\/\/
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Reply to
Chris Hills

TV only serves to distract the masses and waste time. That explains *your* productivity :-)

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Michael N. Moran           (h) 770 516 7918
5009 Old Field Ct.         (c) 678 521 5460
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Reply to
Michael N. Moran

Same here. The only really urgent call (from my employer) came when I was in an aircraft, strapped into a parachute and just about to bail out. And the lady who received that call only spoke French, the V.P.Engineering who had called didn't ....

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

Yesterday we drove a backroad home from church. It leads past the backs of businesses, mostly restaurants, and each has a propane tank. Shiny copper pigtails on every one. Then I wondered how long until they want to fire up their cooktops one day and all the pilots are out.

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

In all seriousness, I moved in here just under a year ago, and decided that I wouldn't pay the cable tax for now. Rabbit ears don't work here, so I have no TV, just radio. Haven't really missed it, with the possible exception of Jeopardy. The TV sets sit on various perches and glower dourly at me. That adds up to at least $600 per year.

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 Chuck F (cbfalconer at maineline dot net)
   Available for consulting/temporary embedded and systems.
Reply to
CBFalconer

We've got an antenna outside. Works, kind of, depending on the weather. But if they really pull it off this time the analog stations will be gone later in 2009 and then it's all over. Guess we'll see some TV folks looking for a job.

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

Not uncommon for them to take consumer units, and live power cables as well!

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Paul Carpenter          | paul@pcserviceselectronics.co.uk
    PC Services
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Reply to
Paul Carpenter

Think yourself lucky, in the UK if you have any equipment in the house that can receive television - whther you use it or not - then you have to pay for a TV license which is about $230 per year. I've heard of several people who have no TVs at all in their house and the license inspectors check their homes every 2 months or so - and you can't stop them!

When I was a student, I had a black and white TV and paid for a black and white license (which is a bit cheaper than colour) and I had the inspectors round every two weeks to make sure my TV hadn't magically become a colour one! It's not all bad though - they give you $10 off if you're blind!

Reply to
Tom Lucas

It sounds like the TV licensing propaganda is working. Their job is to make people think they are criminals. I've had letters from them telling me I *would* be prosecuted without so much as a clause saying "unless you don't have a TV".

But most of what you said isn't actually true. If they want in, they need a warrant. They rarely bother to get one, relying on intimidation to gain entry, but unless you let them in, they will be trespassing if they enter.

Also, if you don't use your TV receiving equipment, you don't need a license. It's up to TV licencing to prove that you own and use it, not up to you to prove taht you don't.

It's better for students in halls of residence - many of them will not let TV licencing inspectors past reception because they know exactly what they're up to! (Scaremongering and criminalising, and selectively inspecting students and women.)

Don't let them in, don't say anything to them, don't sign anything, don't reply to their letters, just ignore them.

Phil

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Philip Potter pgp  doc.ic.ac.uk
Reply to
Philip Potter

Untrue, the following exclusions apply

  • televisions installed and used solely for some other purpose e.g. a closed-circuit monitor
  • televisions used solely as a video/DVD player
  • televisions used solely as a games console monitor
  • televisions used solely as a PC monitor

Actually arguing this with the licenseing authority is a different matter though.

Also untrue. TV License inspectors have no right of entry. They do have a right to approach and to knock on your front door. In order to enter they would need a search order from a magistrate which won't be granted unless they have reasonable grounds, like seeing a TV through a window of the house.

I mostly support the license fee as a means of funding the BBC, it's worth the total lack of adverts during programs alone.

-p

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"Unix is user friendly, it's just picky about who its friends are."
 - Anonymous
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Reply to
Paul Gotch

In article , Tom Lucas writes

That is because unlike the US the UK has a publicly funded TV station. The BBC. All the others are commercial

You must have convinced then you were a dodgy character....

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\/\/\/\/\ Chris Hills  Staffs  England     /\/\/\/\/
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Reply to
Chris Hills

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