TELECOM@Usc-Eclb (06/29/82)
TELECOM AM Digest Tuesday, 29 June 1982 Volume 2 : Issue 79 Today's Topics: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 24 Jun 1982 2134-PDT From: Richard Furuta <Furuta at WASHINGTON> Subject: Belle in Science For those of you who've been following the fortunes of Belle, Bell Labs' chess playing computer, there is an article in the most recent issue of Science magazine describing its seizure (and subsequent release). (For those of you who haven't been following the story, Belle was seized by the Customs department when Kenneth Thompson of Bell Labs tried to take it to Moscow for a chess demonstration). Thompson's quotes on this matter have been quite colorful. This article contains the classic paragraph: "The Soviets, at first, would not accept the fact that Belle was not coming to their chess meeting. 'They kept saying that if we could just find the right person and slip him a bottle of vodka we could get the computer,' Thompson remarks. 'Then they said that if I could get the computer out of the country they would send a plane to pick it up and fly it to Moscow. They couldn't understand that this couldn't be done.' Finally, the Russians went with Thompson to the American Embassy in Moscow and suggested that Belle might be shipped in a diplomatic pouch. This idea, too, met with a less than enthusiastic reception." The citation is Science (Vol. 216, Number 4553), 25 June 1982, page 1392. Incidentally, the next article in the magazine discusses controversy about the future of Bell Laboratories as it might be affected by the recent consent decree or by H.R. 5818. --Rick ------------------------------ Date: 24 Jun 82 17:00:24 EDT (Thu) From: Steve Bellovin <smb.unc@UDel-Relay> Subject: Resale of WATS lines To: telecom at unc What do folks on this list think of the viability of reselling WATS lines? A new company has started up locally (Heins Call Saver, 919-549-8247) that's doing just that; they're promising 20-50% savings on out-of-state calls. Now -- I'm a bit suspicious of that, because that's how Hart-Line was implemented. (They charged $65 plus $65/mo. for an unlimited number of 15-minute calls; Heins is charging $15 ($25 for businesses) plus $6/mo. plus per-call fees, with a $3 credit if your monthly bill is less than $50.) They're also promising a busy rate of less than .3% -- is that attainable economically? ------------------------------ Date: 28 Jun 82 13:28:28-EDT (Mon) From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@BRL> Subject: coin & non-coin place names I've seen 2 situations in Delaware County, Pa., where the prefix found on pay phones has different place name from those on surrounding residence & business phones. (area code 215) pay phone residence & business where prefix phone prefix 494 Chester 485 Marcus Hook Marcus Hook, Linwood, Boothwyn 461 Glenolden 583,586 Sharon Hill Sharon Hill, Darby ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest ********************** -------