Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id DAA22900; Thu, 6 Mar 1997 03:24:05 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 6 Mar 1997 03:24:05 -0500 (EST) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Message-Id: <199703060824.DAA22900@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V17 #57 TELECOM Digest Thu, 6 Mar 97 03:23:00 EST Volume 17 : Issue 57 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson More Public Meetings Set On Proposed 209 Area Code Changes (Mike King) What Browser do You Use? (Craig Strickland) New York Wants to Ban Cellular Phone Use While Driving (Curtis Anderson) Bell Atlantic: Chutzpah! (Dave Levenson) March 20 - Telecommunications Symposium (Laurent Schumacher) 300 Telecom Related Sites (Danny Burstein) Toronto's New Area Code (james@io.org) Sprint, Contracts, Trustworthiness (John Many Jars) Looks Like IBM Will Have a Problem With Area Code 240 (Paul Robinson) V & H to Latitude and Longitude (Col. G.L. Sicherman) Possible Internet Scam (Eric Florack) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: Post Office Box 4621 Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 847-329-0571 Fax: 847-329-0572 ** Article submission address: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Our archives are located at hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu. The URL is: http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives They can also be accessed using anonymous ftp: ftp hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) A third method is the Telecom Email Information Service: Send a note to tel-archives@massis.lcs.mit.edu to receive a help file for using this method or write me and ask for a copy of the help file for the Telecom Archives. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mike King Subject: More Public Meetings Set On Proposed 209 Area Code Changes Date: Tue, 4 Mar 1997 21:34:11 PST ----- Forwarded Message ----- Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1997 11:52:42 -0800 From: sqlgate@sf-ptg-fw.pactel.com Subject: More Public Meetings Set On Proposed 209 Area Code Changes FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 4, 1997 FOR MORE INFORMATION: Eric Johnson (209) 454-3602 Bill Kenney (916) 972-2813 Michael Heenan (916) 972-2811 More Public Meetings Set On Proposed 209 Area Code Changes Public Will Be Asked To Comment On Which Area Keeps The 209 Area Code SACRAMENTO -- Residents and business people who live and work in the 209 area code will get a chance to comment at a series of public meetings later this month and in April on which part of their region -- the northern or southern section -- should keep the 209 area code. The public meetings are the second set to be held in the 209 area code, which will be split into two area codes in November 1998 to meet the growing demand for new phone numbers. In the split, roughly half the customers will receive a new area code and the rest will keep the existing area code. The new area code's introduction will have no impact on the price of telephone calls. "Consensus has not yet been reached on the very important issue of which part of this geographic area should keep the 209 area code and which should receive the new area code," said California Code Administrator Bruce Bennett, who oversees the coordination of area code relief planning statewide for the telecommunications industry. "Because it's an issue that will impact millions of residents and businesses, we feel it's important to give the public another opportunity to comment before the industry files a 209 area code relief plan with the California Public Utilities Commission." Bennett said the industry originally planned to hold two additional public meetings to discuss this issue and recently added a third meeting. Dates and times of the three public meetings are: Thursday, March 27, 1997 Board of Supervisors Chambers Hall of Records 2281 Tulare Street Fresno 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 17, 1997 City Council Chambers 707 W. Acequia Visalia 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, April 18, 1997 Red Lion Inn 1150 N. 9th Street Modesto Noon to 2 p.m. Public meetings were previously held on the 209 area code split in October 1996 in Fresno, Stockton and Merced. At those meetings, a plan developed by the telecommunications industry to split the 209 area code on a north-south basis was presented. The split line generally runs along the Madera County line where it borders on Mariposa and Merced counties. The northern area includes: Tuolumne, Calaveras and Amador counties, most of Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Mariposa counties and very small parts of Madera, Fresno, Sacramento, El Dorado, Alpine, Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The southern area includes: most of Fresno, Madera, Tulare and Kings counties, and very small parts of Merced, Mariposa and Kern counties. Bennett said the industry looks at a variety of factors when recommending which region in an area code split should keep the existing area code. "We look at the two areas and compare things like the number of phone numbers in use in one area versus the number of phone numbers in use in the other area. The reason this is important is that we generally try to inconvenience the fewest number of customers with an area code number change. In the 209 area code, however, this is not a clear cut issue. The southern area has a slightly higher population, but the northern area has a slightly higher number of telephone numbers in use." Bennett said the industry also looks at things like communities of interest -- that is trying to place communities in the same area code which share business, shopping, social and other common interests. Another important factor is the area code lifespans, Bennett said, adding that in the 209 area code the lifespans would be fairly equal regardless of which side keeps the 209. Once the 209 area code is split, Bennett said, the area which keeps the 209 area code is expected to have enough new phone numbers to accommodate growth for about 10 to 11 1/2 years, regardless of whether the northern or southern region keeps the 209 area code. The new area code is expected to last about 12 1/2 to 15 years. People unable to attend one of the public meetings can send written comments by April 18, 1997 to: Director, California Code Administration 2600 Camino Ramon, Room 1S955 San Ramon, CA 94583 Bennett said residents and business people who cannot attend one of the meetings also can express their views to their elected representatives. "In addition to the public meetings, we are holding three meetings in March and April with city and county government officials throughout the 209 area code to get their input on this issue," he said, adding that citizens should give their feedback to local representatives prior to these meetings. "By meeting again with the public and local officials, we hope to come up with more information that will help us make the best recommendation possible to the Public Utilities Commission on the 209 area code," Bennett said. The 209 area code is one of numerous areas throughout the state requiring area code relief due to growing demand for phone numbers. That demand is being spurred by several factors -- the two primary being the explosion of high-technology and competition in the local telephone service market. The demand for high-tech equipment requiring phone numbers has risen dramatically in the last several years, with the use of fax machines, pagers, cellular phones, modems for Internet access, and data communications networks like ATMs and pay point services. And, with the onset of local competition, a separate supply of telephone numbers must be furnished to each new provider of local telephone service in California. California currently has 14 area codes, more than any other state. That number is expected to grow to 26 area codes by the year 2001. Note to editors and reporters: For further information for your news story, please call of the spokespersons listed at the top of this news release. Their geographical areas of responsibility are as follows: Eric Johnson Fresno, Madera, Tulare, Kings and Kern counties Bill Kenney Tuolumne, Mariposa and Merced counties Michael Heenan San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Amador, Sacramento, El Dorado, Alpine, Alameda and Contra Costa counties -------------- Mike King * Oakland, CA, USA * mk@wco.com ------------------------------ Organization: tgi Computer Consulting Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1997 21:59:57 -0500 From: Craig Strickland Subject: What Browser do You Use? Be aware that a security hole was discovered in Microsoft's Internet Explorer. A nasty webmaster could go so far as to format your hard disk! See for details. A friend of mine ran through the demos and said they work, even through a firewall. MS supposedly will have a patch within the next 48 hours. This came from the mentioned web site: Internet Explorer Bug 2/27/97 (Version 3.0 (4.70.1155)) Microsoft Internet Explorer v3.01 (and earlier?) has a serious bug which allows web page writers to use ".LNK" and ".URL" files to run programs on a remote computer. This bug is particularly damaging because it uses NO ActiveX, and works even when Internet Explorer is set to its highest security level. It was tested on Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 3.0 (4.70.1155) running Windows 95. This demo assumes that Windows is installed in "C:\WINDOWS". Windows 95 DOES NOT PROMPT BEFORE EXECUTING THESE FILES. .URL files are WORSE than .LNK files because .URLs work in both Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 (.LNK's only work in Windows 95). .URL files present a possibly greater danger because they can be easily created by server side scripts to meet the specific settings of a user's system. We will provide .URL files for execution in the next day or so. The "shortcuts" can be set to be minimized during execution which means that users may not even be aware that a program has been started. Microsoft's implementation of shortcuts becomes a serious concern if a webpage can tell Internet Explorer to refresh to an executable. Or worse, client side scripts (Java, JavaScript, or VBScript) can use the Explorer object to transfer a BATCH file to the target machine and then META REFRESH to that BATCH file to execute the rogue command in that file. Physical: 26 11'46"N 80 14'20"W Amateur: KE4QJN Internet: tgi@pobox.com CompuServe: 76545,1007 Web: http://pobox.com/~tgi/ PGP Key: Available from key server: pgp-public-keys@pgp.mit.edu Fingerprint: E6 E1 25 DE 7C 6F 34 CD E7 75 ED 21 7E 45 6E D7 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1997 22:19:11 -0500 From: Curtis R. Anderson Organization: Gleepy's Henhouse Subject: New York Wants to Ban Cellular Phone Use While Driving According to a brief announcement heard on WKBW-TV during the six p.m. news, the New York legislature is considering a bill which would ban the driver's use of handheld cellular phones while the vehicle is being operated. The Legislature is using those studies which suggest high accident risk while the driver is talking on a cellular phone. It almost makes one wonder about folks who get cellular phones in their cars for safety and convenience. Even if the bill does not pass, one can expect insurance companies to raise liability premiums for cars with cellular phones. Curtis R. Anderson, Co-creator of "Gleepy the Hen", SP 2.5?, KoX URLs: http://www.servtech.com/public/cra/ ftp://ftp.servtech.com/pub/users/cra/ mailto:gleepy@intelligencia.com ------------------------------ Subject: Bell Atlantic: Chutzpah! Date: Tue, 4 Mar 97 18:10:18 EST From: Dave Levenson Organization: Westmark, Inc. Reply-To: dave@westmark.com It's bad enough that Caller*ID service, even at this late date, only delivers the calling number on about 30% of all inbound calls here. Today I received a telemarketing call from Bell Atlantic -- offering me Caller*ID Deluxe (that version delivers caller name and number) for an additional monthly fee. I told the caller that I was not interested. She tried harder, and offerd to throw in one free month of Voice Mail service if I bought Caller*ID Deluxe. I told her that I would not spend an additional cent on Caller*ID until it started delivering caller identification on far more than the 30% of calls on which it currently works. She insisted that it works on `most calls' today. I told her that her own call was displayed as `OUT OF AREA'! She wished me a good evening and disconnected. Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. Voice: 908 647 0900 Web: http://www.westmark.com Stirling, NJ, USA Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ From: Laurent Schumacher Subject: March 20 - Telecommunications Symposium Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1997 19:46:50 +0100 Organization: Labo TELE - Univ. Catholique de Louvain - Belgium Reply-To: mertens@dpri.ucl.ac.be TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES How to reconcile the market constraints and the democratic requirements ? Thursday March 20 1997 School of Law Louvain-la-Neuve Belgium Information about the day Within the University of Louvain, the Center for the Philosophy of Law (CPDR) brings together some 20 researchers from different fields to study the changes necessary to adapt the legal system to contemporary society. In the spirit, one team at the Center - the Telecommunications Task Force - examines how market constraints may be reconcilied with the requirements of democratic society. The conference will be of interest to (in alphabetical order) administrators, diplomats, lawyers (practising in both the public and private sectors), members of the public, students and university researchers. Additional information may be obtained by contacting Dimitri Mertens Phone: +32 10 47 88 74 (Monday to Friday, 2 to 3 PM MET) Fax: +32 10 47 86 01 E-mail: Mertens@dpri.ucl.ac.be or by visiting the Symposium Web site at http://www.drt.ucl.ac.be/Faculte/cpdr/tele2402/index_e.html With the support of Belgacom the Belgian telecommunications Company. Program Morning 8h30 Accueil 8h45 Introduction G. Horsmans, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Universite catholique de Louvain Universal service (In french and in english) 9h An American Perspective Fr. Bar, Stanford University 9h40 A European perspective Mme Beres, European Parliament, memeber of the Information Society Information 10h20 Pause 10h40 Debate The Regulatory Authorities (In english) 11h50 A comparative perspective: Australia, Europe, New Zealand, The United States C. Scott, London School of Economics 12h30 Lunch Afternoon Opening the Markets to Competition (In english) 14h A European Perspective M. Haag, European Commission (DG IV) 14h40 The Alliances among Telecom Operators P. Larouche, University of Maastricht 15h20 Pause 15h40 An American Perspective Y. Benkler, New York University 16h20 Debate on Competition and the Regulatory Authorities With the participation of S. Rose-Ackerman, Yale University 18h End Registration form to be sent by fax to +32 10 47 86 01 or by mail to Center for the Philosophy of the Law Place Montesquieu 2 B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve Belgium before Friday march 14th, 1997 Name _____________________________________________ Profession _____________________________________________ Address _____________________________________________ Telephone/Fax _____________________________________________ [ ] will take part to the symposium [ ] send an order for the amount of 2500 BEF (*) on account 360-1161284-06 UCL-conference telecommunications law [ ] will take part in the lunch (an additional 500 BEF) (not compulsory) Date and signature: (*) 2000 BEF if the payment is made before March 7th. Free entrance for students and members of universities. Please send a student or professional ID with the registration form. The fee covers the entrance and the documentation. Laurent Schumacher (UCL/FSA/ELEC/TELE) Place du Levant 2, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, BELGIUM Phone: +32 10 47 80 66 E-mail: Schumacher@tele.ucl.ac.be Fax: +32 10 47 20 89 WWW: http://www.tele.ucl.ac.be ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Mar 1997 09:45:24 EST From: Danny Burstein Subject: 300 Telecom Related Sites (forwarded with approval of the earlier poster) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 4 Mar 1997 09:24:12 EST Reply-To: Computer-assisted Reporting & Research Subject: Fwd: 300 telecom related sites =================== Forwarded Message =================== Date: Fri, 28 Feb 1997 14:14:10 -0600 From: Gleason Sackman Subject: RESOUR> 300 telecom related sites From: glivings@tia.eia.org http://www.industry.net/c/orgunpro/tia/other1 A directory of over 300 telecom related sites provided by the Telecommunications Industry Association. Forwarded by List Owner -------------------------------------------- Elliott Parker elliott.parker@cmich.edu Journalism Dept. eparker@well.com Central Michigan University Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 USA ------------------------------ From: james@io.org Subject: Toronto's New Area Code Date: 4 Mar 97 14:21:26 GMT I heard that Bell will soon announce a area code split for Metro Toronto also known as MegaCity Toronto. In Metro we had a vote on combining the 5 cities and 1 borough into a megacity I believe that Bell has put off plans for a 416 split boundry until the province namley Premier Mr. HARRISment decides if he will be a cazr and still combine metro despite the vote. I read in news groups that the split could be along Yonge Street (Hwy 11) also known as the world's longest road!!! Others have sugguested a triple split that would go as follow 416 would be retained in metro south of Eglinton and West of Yonge a new code for south of Eglinton and East of Yonge a new code for parts of metro north of Eglinton Ave. Yonge Street is metro's "Main Street per se" Eglinton Ave. runs along all metro cities and would be a logical location for a split. Many people in the GTA have chosen "416" cell numbers even through they are in the burb's "905'ers" that has reduced the numbers available for metro in general. When is the split happening? Will The "New Bell" let us know!!!! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The newspapers around here say he is going to push through the 'megacity' idea regardless of what anyone else wants ... a true politician/public servant. It would be great if everyone just revolted; quit paying taxes, quit obeying any of the megacity laws, etc ... everyone just said take us all to jail and somehow deal with it as best you can ... I am assuming of course that none of the small surrounding communities would have any say-so whatsoever in the government of the megacity. If it turns out at all like Chicago a few judges and their lawyer friends just appoint some of their cronies to handle it all. No one actually bothers to vote any longer; it is considered an insult to our intelligence since the public servants do whatever they want anyway. If this guy in Canada gets his way, is there any court of appeal or way to go over him or is his word the final one? PAT] ------------------------------ From: hanuman@clark.net (John Many Jars) Subject: Sprint, Contracts, Trustworthiness Date: 4 Mar 1997 17:03:59 GMT Organization: Hanumanji The {Washington Post} has published an article available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-02/28/064L-022897-idx.html about the latest Sprint situation and the furor following it. Basically, Sprint Spectrum (the local PCS 1900 carrier in DC/Baltimore) offered business and student customers an awfully good deal: either $7.50 or $10.00/month for service, with handset replacement insurance included in the monthly charge. in return, customers were required to sign a one-year contract (not usually required for service). A lot of these contract users are up in arms because Sprint apparently changed their policy recently. Though the users are bound by their contract, with high costs to cancel, Sprint has now decided that they (the customers) need to pay $4/month for handset replacement insurance, and changed the terms of the insurance as well. In a decision that brings back memories of "Fridays Free", the method used to inform customers was a letter (dated February 14, but most customers didn't receive the letter until the week of February 23) informing them that if they didn't respond by March 1, their rates would increase by $4 a month, the cost of handset replacement insurance. for some of the customers, this represented a monthly increase of 50%! Granted, that $10/month is a *great* price for service, and an additional $4 is still cheap service, but it seems like Sprint is treating these contracts as applying only to the users and not to them. for some users (students, for example) that 40% increase in price can be pretty hefty, and the policy of "mail in this coupon immediately or we'll start charging you" seems kind of sneaky as well. In the Post's article (dated 2/28), it appears that Sprint has backed down somewhat from their original decision. They will allow customers still under contract to continue receiving service and insurance at the contract price, but the customer must call in and protest the rate increase. jmj [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Isn't that precious! Sprint 'will allow' the customer to abide by the terms of the contract Sprint signed with them. Is that something like me saying I will allow my creditors to continue sending me bills each month until I pay them? Tell me this: when the customer calls in to protest, is he expected to contact that same deadbeat the Friday Free customers tried to call but never could reach? ... that would be the perfect way for Sprint to handle it; force the customer to contact one person at the company who has always 'stepped away from his desk' or who 'has been in meet- ings all day ...' they could set up a dummy voicemail box to take his messages and have someone zap the messages every day or so. For the life of me, I do not understand why the Federal Trade Commission or the FCC has not slapped Sprint very hard and closed their doors, but we know most public serpents can be bought off if the money is right, and Lord knows Sprint has enough of that to keep lots of lawyers and lobbyists fat and well-fed. You have given instructions to your accounts payable department to put a total freeze on all payments to Sprint haven't you? And when they call asking about getting the money on your account, defy them go legal with it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Paul Robinson Subject: Looks Like IBM Will Have a Problem With Area Code 240 Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 10:26:59 -0500 Organization: Evergreen Software Bellcore has a page (http://www.bellcore.com/NANP/240.html) listed to show the test number for area code 240 - the overlay area code here in Maryland for AC 301 - to see if it works from a specific area. Since 240 isn't even set up to be in effect until May, the number, which will be 240-999-8378, doesn't work, of course. Only problem was when I tried dialing it to see if that was a working number from here in 301 country. We are still on seven-digit dialing here (when 240 goes through, ALL local calls will be 10 digits), so I tried just dialing the short part of the number. Merely dialing 999-8378 sits on dead silence for 1/2 a minute before timing out to a recording saying "Your Call Did Not Go Through". Calling 301-999-8378 gets a recording saying the number is wrong. "Your call can not be completed as dialed." I wanted to see if maybe "999" is being coded as an area code; sure enough, dialing 999-555-1212 doesn't "click" until the tenth digit, and goes to a recording saying the number is wrong. But, when I tried dialing the regular number as listed, I got a surprise. When I dialed 240-9998, the phone system clicked, and I got shunted to a recording (probably from a PBX, as follows:) "You have reached a non-working number at IBM, Gaithersburg Maryland. Please check your number and try again, or call your operator for assistance." (I note, also, that the recording did not include a SIT tone, as is often used even with private non-valid number announcements.) Well, it's obvious that this particular number doesn't work. But it implies that IBM has other numbers in the 240 prefix that DO work. And they are probably going to have some problems when people confuse their exchange with the new area code. Or, as the case may be, that Bell Atlantic requires they switch their PBX to a new prefix. I was unaware that there is a 240 exchange in this (301) area code. I am surprised that Bell Atlantic didn't try to get an area code that wasn't in use here as an exchange, or made sure any such exchange had everyone moved off at least a year in advance to reduce the possibility of confusion. I believe that having an exchange which is the same as any area code which is near to the area in use is only asking for trouble. For example, the area codes that are local to me in Silver Spring, MD are 301, 410 (Columbia, MD), 202 (DC), 703(Virginia). Also, because they are touched by parts of this area code, there should not be a 304(WV), or 610(PA) exchange. I'd even recommend, since it is one state over, not to have 302(DE), 804(VA), or 750 (VA) exchanges, for example. But it seems odd that some exchange that isn't in use here wasn't chosen for the new area code. And the phone book is no help anymore, they no longer list prefix locations. Which brings up a whole new (and unrelated article) that I'll have to write sometime. Paul Robinson Evergreen Software Http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/9876/areacodes.htm ------------------------------ From: sicherman@lucent.com (Col. G.L. Sicherman) Subject: V & H to Latitude and Longitude Date: 5 Mar 1997 14:59:27 GMT Organization: Save the Dodoes Foundation Recently I wanted to convert some Bell Labs "V&H" coordinates to latitude and longitude. A careful search through the Telecomm- unications Archives turned up a C program for converting in the other direction, and many pleas for what I was looking for. One poster even offered money! Since I work for Bell Labs, I had no trouble getting a copy of Erik Grimmelmann's legendary memorandum. (Don't get your hopes up - Bell Labs has no intention of releasing it to the public!) Thus armed, I hacked up the following C program, which ought to compile on any C platform. Its input and output agree with the output and input of ll_to_vh (as hacked by Tom Libert), and the comments summarize the math as explained by Grimmelmann. Enjoy! /* * vh2ll.c - convert V&H to latitude and longitude. * Col. G. L. Sicherman. 1997-03-01. * After E. K. Grimmelmann. * * TO COMPILE: * cc -o vh2ll vh2ll.c -lm * * USAGE: * vh2ll [-m] [v h] * * -m show degrees, minutes, and seconds instead of * degrees with decimals. * * If you don't specify coordinates, reads pairs from the * standard input. Normally v and h are integers, but they * need not be. * * Output values are north latitude and west longitude. * * NOTES: * V&H is a system of coordinates (V and H) for describing * locations of rate centers in the United States. The * projection, devised by J. K. Donald, is an "elliptical," * or "doubly equidistant" projection, scaled down by a factor * of 0.003 to balance errors. * * The foci of the projection, from which distances are * measured accurately (except for the scale correction), * are at 37d 42m 14.69s N, 82d 39m 15.27s W (in Floyd Co., * Ky.) and 41d 02m 55.53s N, 112d 03m 39.35 W (in Webster * Co., Utah). They are just 0.4 radians apart. * * Here is the transformation from latitude and longitude to V&H: * First project the earth from its ellipsoidal surface * to a sphere. This alters the latitude; the coefficients * bi in the program are the coefficients of the polynomial * approximation for the inverse transformation. (The * function is odd, so the coefficients are for the linear * term, the cubic term, and so on.) Also subtract 52 degrees * from the longitude. * * For the rest, compute the arc distances of the given point * to the reference points, and transform them to the coordinate * system in which the line through the reference points is the * X-axis and the origin is the eastern reference point. * The solution is * h = (square of distance to E - square of distance to W * + square of distance between E and W) / * twice distance between E and W; * v = square root of absolute value of (square of * distance to E - square of h). * Reduce by three-tenths of a percent, rotate by 76.597497 * degrees, and add 6363.235 to V and 2250.7 to H. * * To go the other way, as this program does, undo the final translation, * rotation, and scaling. The z-value Pz of the point on the x-y-z sphere * satisfies the quadratic Azz+Bz+c=0, where * A = (ExWz-EzWx)^2 + (EyWzx-EzWy)^2 + (ExWy-EyWx)^2; * B = -2[(Ex cos(arc to W) - Wx cos(arc to E))(ExWz-EzWx) - * (Ey cos(arc to W) -Wy cos(arc to E))(EyWz-EzWy)]; * C = (Ex cos(arc to W) - Wx cos(arc to E))^2 + * (Ey cos(arc to W) - Wy cos(arc to E))^2 - * (ExWy - EyWx)^2. * Solve with the quadratic formula. The latitude is simply the * arc sine of Pz. Px and Py satisfy * ExPx + EyPy + EzPz = cos(arc to E); * WxPx + WyPy + WzPz = cos(arc to W). * Substitute Pz's value, and solve linearly to get Px and Py. * The longitude is the arc tangent of Px/Py. * Finally, this latitude and longitude are spherical; use the * inverse polynomial approximation on the latitude to get the * ellipsoidal earth latitude, and add 52 degrees to the longitude. */ #include #include #include #ifndef M_PI #define M_PI 3.14159265358979323846 #endif static int mflag; static void usage() { fprintf(stderr, "usage: vh2ll [-m] [v h]\n"); fprintf(stderr, "-m\tprint degrees, minutes, and seconds\n"); exit(1); } /* orthogonal translation values */ #define TRANSV 6363.235 #define TRANSH 2250.7 /* cosine and sine of rotation */ #define ROTC 0.23179040 #define ROTS 0.97276575 /* radius of earth in sqrt(0.1)-mile units, minus 0.3 percent */ #define RADIUS 12481.103 /* spherical coordinates of eastern reference point */ #define EX 0.40426992 #define EY 0.68210848 #define EZ 0.60933887 /* spherical coordinates of western reference point */ #define WX 0.65517646 #define WY 0.37733790 #define WZ 0.65449210 /* spherical coordinates of V-H coordinate system */ #define PX -0.555977821730048699 #define PY -0.345728488161089920 #define PZ 0.755883902605524030 /* GX = ExWz - EzWx; GY = EyWz - EzWy */ #define GX 0.216507961908834992 #define GY -0.134633014879368199 /* A = (ExWz-EzWx)^2 + (EyWz-EzWy)^2 + (ExWy-EyWx)^2 */ #define A 0.151646645621077297 /* Q = ExWy-EyWx; Q2 = Q*Q */ #define Q -0.294355056616412800 #define Q2 0.0866448993556515751 static void vh2ll(v, h) double v, h; { int i, latdeg, latmin, londeg, lonmin, latsec, lonsec; double t1, t2, vhat, hhat, fx, fy; double e, w; /* distances to E and W reference points */ double b, c, disc, z, x, y, delta, lat, lat2, lon; double earthlat, earthlon; static double bi[7] = { 1.00567724920722457, -0.00344230425560210245, 0.000713971534527667990, -0.0000777240053499279217, 0.00000673180367053244284, -0.000000742595338885741395, 0.0000000905058919926194134 }; t1 = (v - TRANSV) / RADIUS; t2 = (h - TRANSH) / RADIUS; vhat = ROTC*t2 - ROTS*t1; hhat = ROTS*t2 + ROTC*t1; e = cos(sqrt(vhat*vhat + hhat*hhat)); w = cos(sqrt(vhat*vhat + (hhat-0.4)*(hhat-0.4))); fx = EY*w - WY*e; fy = EX*w - WX*e; b = fx*GX + fy*GY; c = fx*fx + fy*fy - Q2; disc = b*b - A*c; /* discriminant */ if (disc==0.0) { /* It's right on the E-W axis */ z = b/A; x = (GX*z - fx)/Q; y = (fy - GY*z)/Q; } else { delta = sqrt(disc); z = (b + delta)/A; x = (GX*z - fx)/Q; y = (fy - GY*z)/Q; if (vhat * (PX*x + PY*y + PZ*z) < 0) { /* wrong direction */ z = (b - delta)/A; x = (GX*z - fx)/Q; y = (fy - GY*z)/Q; } } lat = asin(z); /* * Use polynomial approximation for inverse mapping * (sphere to spheroid): */ lat2 = lat*lat; earthlat = 0; for (i=6; i>=0; i--) earthlat = (earthlat + bi[i]) * (i? lat2: lat); earthlat *= 180/M_PI; /* * Adjust longitude by 52 degrees: */ lon = atan2(x, y) * 180/M_PI; earthlon = lon + 52; if (mflag) { latdeg = earthlat; latmin = (earthlat - latdeg) * 60; latsec = (((earthlat - latdeg) * 60) - latmin) * 60 + 0.5; londeg = earthlon; lonmin = (earthlon - londeg) * 60; lonsec = (((earthlon - londeg) * 60) - lonmin) * 60 + 0.5; printf("%02dd %02dm %02ds %02dd %02dm %02ds\n", latdeg, latmin, latsec, londeg, lonmin, lonsec); } else printf("%lf %lf\n", earthlat, earthlon); } main(argc, argv) int argc; char **argv; { double v, h; while (--argc) if ('-'==**++argv) switch(*++*argv) { case 'm': mflag = 1; break; default: usage(); } else break; switch(argc) { case 0: while (2==scanf(" %lf %lf", &v, &h)) vh2ll(v, h); break; case 2: if (!isdigit(argv[0][0])) usage(); /* sanity */ if (!isdigit(argv[1][0])) usage(); v = atof(argv[0]); h = atof(argv[1]); vh2ll(v, h); break; default: usage(); } exit(0); } Col. G. L. Sicherman sicherman@lucent.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Mar 1997 05:40:51 PST From: Eric_Florack@xn.xerox.com (Eric Florack) Subject: Possible Internet Scam Got the following from a friend of mine who is an ISP. Normally, I take such notes with much in the way of salt substitute. However, he's proven trusty with information he's sent me in the past. So, I'll forward this to you advisedly. I get the impression from talking to this guy that the scam is not limited to adult sites. /E --------- There is a new InterNet scam that involes some "adult" sites that promise "free pictures". The user logs in and is told to download some "special viewer software" or something like that. What the viewer software does is, when executed, turns off the modem speaker, disconnects from AugLink (or whatever server) and redials and connects you with an overseas phone call to Europe - In the cases we have heard of to a server in the former Soviet Union state of Muldavia. The company that is running this scam is in cahoots with the phone company over there to split the income from these calls. This is NOT a rumor - some of our users have been nabbed by this scam, and it is not completely certain you can have the charges removed from your phone bill. I will update this with of list of the site(s) that are doing this - In the meantime, use your judgment in downloading any suspicious sounding "special software". Just check it out, and pass it on perhaps to anyone that may have a need for this knowledge, as your mailing list is larger than mine : ) =-=-=- [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We touched on this one before here in the Digest. The news on television today brings still another scam of interest: college degrees by email from "Loyola State University of Illinois". The lady running this one had a web page promising a college degree in twenty-seven days or less. You get credit for 'life experiences' and these 'college credits' along with a couple thousand dollars will get you a Bachelor's degree. A few thousand more and you can have a Masters or a Doctorate. The web page told you where to submit your 'transcripts' for approval. The 'Bursars Office' and the 'University Chancellor' could be reached via a mail drop in Illinois (I think it is the same fraud-hive which runs the voicemail on an 800 number with business opportunities; remember them, down in Edwardsville, IL?). The mail drop was then forwarding the mail to the woman running this scam at her home in (naturally!) South Florida. There is a legitimate 'Loyola University' -- a Jesuit institution of high regard -- here in Chicago and they were simply furious to find out about the diploma mill running on the Internet using their name when the Postal Inspectors raided the operation at the end of last week. There is also a 'University of Illinois' of course, and an 'Illinois State University' operating legitimatly here. Anyway, in a stunning blow for academic freedom the feds closed the "Loyola State University of Illinois' diploma mill a few days ago. You may have seen the web page before the authorities pulled the plug, seized the computer and all its files. It is refreshing to have them act out their hostility toward the net community on someone other than the crafty pedophiles for a change. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V17 #57 *****************************